A much-changed Leicester side strolled to victory at Peterborough, with Kelechi Iheanacho and the new signing Fousseni Diabaté both scoring twice
When Mauricio Pochettino had finished shaking hands and congratulating his hosts at the end, this famous young coach who cut his teeth in the Rosario derby in Argentina and then later in similar affairs in Catalonia reflected on what he had seen at Rodney Parade, and how it made him feel.
His team had been on the brink of one of the most heinous FA Cup defeats of all-time, one that would be played for all eternity in FA Cup giant-killing montages, a League Two team defeating the multi-millionaires of the Premier League and Harry Kane had only just rescued it. With eight minutes to go the unstoppable English goal machine got the tap-in that means Newport go to Wembley for the replay and Spurs are spared decades of jokes about January evenings in South Wales.
Pochettino knew his team had failed to perform in the first half in particular and was quite clear about that. But he also understood what Newport County and their manager and hometown hero Michael Flynn had achieved, what it meant to them and also what it signified about the game too. “Sometimes I miss this type of atmosphere and football,” the Spurs manager said, “because that is the reality of football and how I feel about it. That was pure passion.”
This was one of those evenings when anything felt possible and almost was, for a Newport team that last season were 11 points adrift with 12 games to play at the bottom of League Two and nearly fell out the Football League until Flynn turned it around. This was his 50th game in charge and they are eighth now with a group of players who proudly call themselves the “Misfits XI”, including a former Tesco shelf stacker, a right-back who served time in prison and more than one journeyman.
It was one of those journeymen, Padraig Amond, who buried the first-half header that almost earned Newport the win, a man who has scored goals in Dublin and Sligo and in Porto at Pacos de Ferreira; at Accrington Stanley, Grimsby and Hartlepool but never one like this. Newport ceased to exist in 1989 and last season they were on life support but football can turn around so quickly that before you know it you are 1-0 up at home against a Champions League team.
This was a version of the Spurs side that beat Real Madrid on Nov 1 – not quite the real deal of course but by the end Kane, Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and many other big names were on the pitch trying to force the winner.
Welcome to today's Nottingham Forest live blog.
The Reds tackle Championship rivals Hull City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, after beating the holders Arsenal in the third round of the competition.
We will have all the build-up to the tie followed by live updates throughout the 90 minutes and lots of post-match reaction and analysis.
We will also keep you up to date with any fresh news on the transfer front, with the January transfer window set to close next week.
So join us throughout the day to make sure you don't miss anything.
The FA Cup fifth round draw takes place on Monday
The FA Cup fifth round will pitch a number of England’s top clubs against each other.
A win here and teams will start to smell the Wembley turf.
Manchester United are already through after beating Yeovil 4-0 on Friday night.
They were joined by Sheffield Wednesday, who edged Reading 3-1.
Leicester are through after seeing off Peterborough 5-1 on Saturday.
Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are all still in the Cup.
Liverpool play West Brom on Saturday, with Chelsea hosting Newcastle and City travelling to Cardiff on Sunday.
The FA Cup fifth round draw will be closely watched by players and fans alike.
