Championship underachievers In the third round of the FA Cup, Blackpool humiliated Premier League Nottingham Forest.
Marvin Ekpiteta gave the Seasiders, who were in the second tier’s relegation zone, the lead in the 17th minute.
At Bloomfield Road, Forest, who completely altered their starting lineup, missed many opportunities to tie the game.
Before Ryan Yates scored a late consolation, the second half saw goals from Ian Poveda, CJ Hamilton, and Jerry Yates.
The draw for the fourth round will happen on Sunday at 16:05 GMT.
Blackpool manager Michael Appleton stated, “Tonight is a terrific tournament that I have been lucky to enjoy fantastic days in, and this was one of them.
Forest’s spectacular run to the quarterfinals of the previous season encouraged their eventual triumph in their long-awaited promotion back to the Premier League.
However, Steve Cooper’s team selection indicated that Forest were willing to forego this season’s tournament in order to concentrate on delaying a return to the Championship.
James Husband of Blackpool volleyed just wide of the far post before Forest failed to clear a cross from Hamilton on the left, and Shayne Lavery’s errant drive found Ekpiteta. After receiving a free kick, the center-half continued to advance and from ten yards out, he stabbed the ball beyond Wayne Hennessey.
Forest led both before and after the break, and Ekpiteta made a few crucial blocks in the second half.
Neco Williams, however, lost possession of the ball in his own half to Blackpool’s replacement Yates, whose run into the penalty area led to Leeds winger Poveda, who was on loan, bundling the ball in.
To seal the victory, Yates half-volleyed from Poveda’s cross over the crossbar after Hamilton and another substitute, Kenny Dougall, had traded passes. Hamilton had earlier struck a beautiful volley inside the far post from the left side of the box.
Everyone has a role to play, said Appleton. “We didn’t anticipate having so many opportunities. They had opportunities, but so did we, and we took them far more seriously.
“Getting the first goal was fantastic, but we’ve had trouble getting the second. So, after receiving the second, I just noticed a sense of ease and confidence growing.
Forest fringe players fail to impress
Cooper handed a few players who have not seen regular action for Forest this season—more than 20 in total—a opportunity to shine. They refused to accept it.
Williams came within a foot of the goal twice in the first half, while Emmanuel Dennis curled a shot against the Blackpool crossbar.
In the second half, Lewis O’Brien and Sam Surridge each missed three open opportunities.
By the time Yates came off the bench to head home Harry Toffolo’s cross in stoppage time, Forest had already lost the contest.
Cooper stated, “I’ve made it clear to the players that both individual errors leading to goals allowed and missing the target with some of our opportunities are unacceptable.
“Even when we were down 2-0, I thought we still had the best chance to score and were still very much in the game, but we seemed to accept it and didn’t put up enough of a fight to come back.
“We must own that we failed in every respect. Recently, we’ve provided some excellent illustrations of what it takes to play effectively and prevail, but today, we provided the exact opposite. That must never occur again, and we must ensure that.
“I have made it obvious to the players that we cannot forget this incident too soon. I felt there was too much entitlement in our game, and we need to address that. We can’t switch performances on and off.
