Nottingham Forest survived a huge FA Cup scare against 10-player Exeter to win a penalty shoot-out after drawing 2-2 at St James Park.
Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson all scored from the spot before fellow substitute Neco Williams wrapped up a marathon tie with the final kick of the contest at 11.03pm.
Josh Magennis and Tony Yogane were on target for League One Exeter, but Matz Sels saved Reece Cole’s poor penalty and Angus MacDonald struck the crossbar as Forest prevailed 4-2.
Forest, third in the Premier League and the highest-ranked team left in the FA Cup, will now play Ipswich at home in round five.
Magennis had scored twice for Exeter – the competition’s top scorer in taking his total to six – in giving the Grecians an early lead and then equalising at the start of the second period.
Ramon Sosa and Taiwo Awoniyi, who left the action in stoppage time on a stretcher after being attended to by medics for several minutes, turned the tie in Forest’s favour.
Exeter debutant Ed Turns was handed a red card for a thigh high challenge on Gibbs-White three minutes from time, but Forest had to settle for an extra 30 minutes after Jota Silva thundered a shot against the crossbar.
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo took the opportunity to rest almost his entire regular starting XI after his squad had spent the week away at a warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
Brazilian midfielder Danilo was the sole survivor from the side which had demolished Brighton 7-0 last time out.
Nuno’s team sheet offered real hope to Exeter – 59 places below Forest on the football ladder – that they could replicate the giant-killing success of their Devon neighbours Plymouth, who had shocked Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday.
Exeter had not won since their third-round victory over Oxford, losing four of their five games and conceding 10 goals against Leyton Orient and Stevenage in their previous two outings.
A huge banner with the words ‘Together We Can Create History’ was held aloft on Exeter’s Big Bank, the largest standing terrace in English football, as Grecians fans embraced the club’s first fourth-round tie since 1981.
Those supporters were able to celebrate a dream start when Carlos Miguel spilled Demetri Mitchell’s fifth-minute effort at the feet of Magennis.
The Northern Ireland international was possibly in an offside position, but with no VAR in operation the goal stood.
Josh Magennis celebrates scoring against Nottingham Forest
Vincent Harper rushed back to clear off the line after Awoniyi had toed the ball past Grecians goalkeeper Joe Whitworth.
But it was to be the briefest of reprieves for Exeter as moments later Ibrahim Sangare spied Sosa, and the Paraguayan found the net just as he had done in the third round against Luton.
Whitworth pushed Awoniyi’s volley around a post but the Forest forward was not to be denied after 37 minutes.
Again Sangare was the supplier and Awoniyi was allowed to turn on the edge of the box, work the ball onto his left foot, and find the bottom corner with Whitworth motionless.
Exeter equalised five minutes after the restart when Magennis rose highest at a corner to force Miguel into a point-blank save.
Magennis was on the rebound in a flash and Willy Boly turned it into his own net off a post.
Miguel was soon forced off through injury and replacement Sels stood firm to prevent Ilmari Niskanen profiting one-on-one.
It was one-way traffic in extra-time and Wood was twice denied by Whitworth as Forest were taken all the way.
