Nottingham Forest beat Midtjylland on penalties, reach Europa League quarters

Midtjylland missed all three of their penalties in a decisive shoot-out as Nottingham Forest overcame a first-leg deficit to book their spot in the Europa League quarterfinals.

Forest had trailed 1-0 heading into the second leg but registered a 2-1 away victory in Denmark before prevailing 3-0 on penalties on Thursday.

Goals have evaded Forest for the best part of a tough campaign but they made their quality count on a couple of occasions and then again from the spot to set up a quarterfinal clash with either Stuttgart or FC Porto.

A much-changed Forest side were looking to overturn their narrow deficit from the City Ground last week but Vitor Pereira's team selection made it seem like the focus was on Premier League survival rather than European qualification.

Forest were dominant but were still unable to breach Elias Rafn Olafsson's goal when Ryan Yates hit the crossbar and Philip Billing cleared one off the line.

However, they managed to get their deserved opener towards the end of the first period courtesy of Nicolas Dominguez's header and they edged ahead in the tie through captain Yates' rocket before Martin Erlic's strike for the hosts sent the match to extra time.

Lorenzo Lucca and Yates had goals ruled out through offside in extra time and, in the shootout, Midtjylland missed all three from the spot while Forest were perfect.

The Danish team had won both of their previous two Europa League meetings with Forest coming into the match but it was the English side that prevailed when it mattered the most to continue their European adventure.

Pereira seemingly prioritised their huge Premier League relegation clash with Tottenham on Sunday by making nine changes from the draw against Fulham last Sunday.

Forest were excellent in the first half hour and Midtjylland's aggregate lead stayed intact thanks to the woodwork after James McAtee's curling pass found Yates, who rattled the upright before Lucca forced Olafsson into a first save.

Forest were hoping missed chances would not cost them for a second straight week and Midtjylland threatened when a knockdown appeared to be trickling in off Mads Bech but Billing was there to clear it off the line by the narrowest of margins.

The Premier League side finally got their first goal of the tie before the break.

Midtjylland were unable to tame the threat of Dilane Bakwa and he put in a cross to Nikola Milenkovic's head. He then nodded back for Dominguez to loop a header over Olafsson and make it 1-0 on the night.

Forest got themselves ahead on aggregate in the 52nd minute. McAtee showed good work to lay it off for Yates, who slammed a ferocious strike from 20 yards past the helpless Olafsson.

The home side managed to level the tie up out of nowhere in the 69th minute when a cross into the box bounced nicely for Erlic to slam past Stefan Ortega.

The goal stemmed the Forest tide but Pereira introduced the likes of Murillo, Ola Aina and Morgan Gibbs-White, who forced Olafsson into a another save.

The hosts almost made them pay down the other end when Cho Gue-sung, looked like he was going to slot a one-on-one past Ortega, but the Forest keeper spread himself to take it into extra time.

Forest had two goals ruled out through offside - Lucca in the first minute of extra time and Yates' header at the death - as the tie went to penalties.

In the shootout, Cho and Aral Simsir both struck the post before Edward Chilufya's slip forced him to miss with Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangaré and Neco Williams all scoring to send Forest through.