Liverpool on Sunday travelled to Nottingham Forest for a FA Cup tie that turned out to be an interesting and hard-fought affair that ended with the Reds progressing to the semi-finals.

The home side went into the game in blistering form, being the only English team apart from Liverpool and Manchester City to have lost only one game in 2022, and put up a good fight against quadruple aspirants Liverpool, who started without the prolific Mohamed Salah and the dangerous Sadio Mane.

Liverpool did  look the more threatening side in the first half despite the occasional Nottingham Forest threat, and Diogo Jota, who started in Mane’s place, came close to getting a shot off on goal in the 11th minute but was denied by a brilliant tackle by Nottingham’s Joe Worrall.

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Minutes later, Kostas Tsimikas, filling in for Andrew Robertson, fashioned another good chance for the visiting team but sent his shot flying just over the crossbar.

Despite Liverpool’s attempts to open the scoring, the Norwich defence held strong and the first half ended level, much to the delight of the home fans.

The beginning of the second half saw a similar exchange between the two sides and Liverpool, evidently disappointed with the score line, looked to their bench as the second half wore on.

The Reds made four changes – Takumi Minamino, Luis Diaz, Thiago Alcantara, and club captain Jordan Henderson – to get a grip on the game and book their spot in the semi-finals.

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The substitutions eventually paid off as Liverpool grew into the game, and the Reds finally found the decisive goal in the 78th minute when a Tsimikas pass found Jota through on goal, who steered it past the keeper into Nottingham Forest’s goal.

Liverpool managed the rest of the game professionally, and joined Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Manchester City in the semis.

Liverpool will now face Premier League title rivals Manchester City in the semi-finals, while Chelsea will take on their local rivals, Crystal Palace.