Liverpool earn Manchester City FA Cup semi after Jota edges out Forest

Jürgen Klopp had said how his scant knowledge of Nottingham stretched to its association with Robin Hood and until Diogo Jota poked in the winning goal 12 minutes from time to propel Liverpool into the FA Cup semi-finals he was at risk of being on the wrong end of an upset that would have provided him an unwanted memory. Forest proved courageous and stubborn, leading Klopp to make a quadruple substitution midway through a stale second half, and could have taken the had Philip Zinckernagel tucked home a golden chance. Liverpool, who remain on course for an unprecedented quadruple, will take on Manchester City in the final four.

Steve Cooper made a low-key entrance a few minutes before kick-off, strolling out of the tunnel and raising his right hand to acknowledge the adoring Forest support before taking a seat in the home dugout. Cooper, who spent five years coaching Liverpool’s academy, has revitalised Forest since inheriting a team that was bottom of the Championship. He could be forgiven for wanting to take it all in. Giant tifos were unfurled in the Trent End and even Cooper applauded the rousing pre-match rendition of Forest’s anthem: Mull of Kintyre. “Our desire is always to be here,” read a graphic stretched across the lower tier. At the opposite end, in a pocket of the Bridgford Stand adjacent to the away fans, there was a poignant tribute to those who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. “97 Never Forgotten” read a banner that covered 97 vacant seats.

The pre-match atmosphere provided the perfect tonic for a breathless first 45 minutes. Forest supporters gasped as Brennan Johnson made the first in-roads down the left flank and the volume increased further when Zinckernagel pinched the ball inside the