Beleaguered Everton and Nottingham Forest found some cheer in a troubling week for both clubs as they ground out victories over Crystal Palace and Blackpool respectively in FA Cup third-round replays on Wednesday.
An Andre Gomes free kick earned Everton a 1-0 home win against Crystal Palace at a freezing Goodison Park.
Forest were given a rough ride at third-tier Blackpool but eventually won 3-2 in extra time.
Everton’s reward is a home tie against fellow Premier League strugglers Luton Town while Forest will go to Bristol City who knocked out top-flight West Ham United on Tuesday.
Championship side Norwich City set up a fourth-round clash away to Premier League leaders Liverpool as they came from a goal down to win 3-1 at third-tier Bristol Rovers.
Both Everton and Forest were this week charged by the Premier League for alleged breaches of profitability and sustainability rules, Everton’s second charge this season, the first of which resulted in a 10-point penalty.
A large crowd braved the cold and Everton rewarded them with a dogged performance with Gomes curling in a free kick three minutes before the interval.
Palace enjoyed the best of the goal-scoring chances but were thwarted on several occasions by keeper Joao Virginia who was playing in the absence of Jordan Pickford.
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For classic FA Cup fayre, however, the place to be was Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road.
Forest appeared to be cruising into the next round when midfielder Danilo punished a mistake by Daniel Grimshaw just after the break to double the lead given to them by Andrew Omobamidele in the 16th minute.
But Blackpool began to throw caution to the wind and when Albie Morgan halved the deficit after some poor Forest defending the tie suddenly burst into life.
Kyle Joseph headed in from close range to make it 2-2 in the 78th minute and Blackpool should have won it deep in stoppage time when Karamoko Dembele went clear and rounded keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos but delayed his shot and Orel Mangala made a goal-saving interception.
Chris Wood got Forest back in front with a close-range finish from a Ryan Yates cross in the first half of extra time and this time the visitors held on to their lead.
