Bristol City produced a spirited performance to earn an FA Cup replay against Nottingham Forest after a goalless fourth-round stalemate at Ashton Gate.
Tommy Conway missed a great chance for the Championship hosts when his half volley from Albania midfielder Anis Mehmeti’s cross flew wide.
Forest also carved out a fine opportunity through Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi, only for Brazilian midfielder Danilo to miss the target.
The two sides will try again at the City Ground on the week beginning 5 February.
Having knocked out West Ham in the third round, City were looking to eliminate more than one top-flight opponent in the same FA Cup campaign for the first time since 1919-20.
Liam Manning’s side looked dangerous going forward, particularly after half-time, but were unable to force Forest keeper Matt Turner into a serious save.
Jason Knight headed another decent chance over the bar for the hosts, while Forest skipper Ryan Yates had the game’s only attempt on target but that failed to seriously trouble City keeper Max O’Leary.
Back to the City Ground
Nuno Espirito Santo has his first clean sheet at the seventh attempt as Forest boss after a dogged defensive performance by his side.
Bristol City were roared on by a raucous crowd and carved out nine attempts over the 90 minutes – but none on target.
After Conway’s earlier miss, Cameron Pring had another great chance for an 85th-minute winner but fired into the side-netting.
In a tense finale, Wood – who had a spell on loan at Bristol City in 2012 – mis-timed a header when the New Zealand forward looked set to score and Hudson-Odoi also found the side-netting late on.
Forest needed a replay and extra time to see off League One Blackpool in the third round and will now need to win another replay if they are to advance to round five.
In the end a draw was a fair outcome, with Forest – 16th in the Premier League with a four-point cushion to the bottom three – facing Arsenal at home and Bournemouth away before the replay.
As for Bristol City, they remain unbeaten after three matches against Premier League sides – two against West Ham and one against Forest – in this season’s FA Cup, despite sitting 13th in the Championship.
Manning will hope his players will take belief from those performances to improve their league form.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Rating range key = Give it up = Pure perfection
Bristol City
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Squad number1Player nameO’Leary
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Squad number19Player nameTanner
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Squad number26Player nameVyner
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Squad number16Player nameDickie
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Squad number2Player nameMcCrorie
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Squad number22Player nameGardner-Hickman
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Squad number6Player nameJames
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Squad number3Player namePring
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Squad number12Player nameKnight
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Squad number11Player nameMehmeti
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Squad number15Player nameConway
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Squad number9Player nameCornick
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Squad number20Player nameBell
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Squad number21Player nameWells
Nottingham Forest
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Squad number1Player nameTurner
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Squad number29Player nameMontiel
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Squad number32Player nameOmobamidele
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Squad number40Player nameMurillo
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Squad number3Player nameNuno Tavares
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Squad number22Player nameYates
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Squad number5Player nameMangala
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Squad number16Player nameDomÃnguez
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Squad number28Player nameDanilo
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Squad number14Player nameHudson-Odoi
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Squad number11Player nameWood
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Squad number7Player nameN Williams
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Squad number10Player nameGibbs-White
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Squad number15Player nameToffolo
Line-ups
Bristol City
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1O’Leary
- 19Tanner
- 26Vyner
- 16Dickie
- 2McCrorieSubstituted forBellat 68′minutes
- 22Gardner-HickmanBooked at 90mins
- 6JamesBooked at 40mins
- 3PringBooked at 20mins
- 12Knight
- 11MehmetiSubstituted forCornickat 78′minutes
- 15ConwaySubstituted forWellsat 77′minutes
Substitutes
- 9Cornick
- 10King
- 20Bell
- 21Wells
- 23Bajic
- 24Roberts
- 27Knight-Lebel
- 30Nelson
- 37Backwell
Nottm Forest
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Turner
- 29Montiel
- 32Omobamidele
- 40Santiago Costa dos Santos
- 3TavaresSubstituted forToffoloat 65′minutes
- 22YatesBooked at 30minsSubstituted forGibbs-Whiteat 45′minutes
- 5Mangala
- 16DomÃnguezBooked at 34minsSubstituted forN Williamsat 45′minutes
- 28Danilo
- 14Hudson-Odoi
- 11Wood
Substitutes
- 4Worrall
- 7N Williams
- 10Gibbs-White
- 15Toffolo
- 23Vlachodimos
- 26McKenna
- 41Aguilera
- 49Osong
- 53Gardner
- Referee:
- Stuart Attwell
- Attendance:
- 25,787
Live Text
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Match ends, Bristol City 0, Nottingham Forest 0.
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Second Half ends, Bristol City 0, Nottingham Forest 0.
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Attempt missed. Danilo (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high from a direct free kick.
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Taylor Gardner-Hickman (Bristol City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Taylor Gardner-Hickman (Bristol City).
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Foul by Zak Vyner (Bristol City).
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Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Nahki Wells (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Orel Mangala (Nottingham Forest).
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Attempt missed. Cameron Pring (Bristol City) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Harry Cornick following a fast break.
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Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Rob Dickie.
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Foul by Jason Knight (Bristol City).
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Murillo (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Rob Dickie (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Callum Hudson-Odoi (Nottingham Forest).
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Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Andrew Omobamidele.
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Substitution, Bristol City. Harry Cornick replaces Anis Mehmeti.
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Substitution, Bristol City. Nahki Wells replaces Tommy Conway.
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Cameron Pring (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
