Oleksandr Zinchenko made his long-awaited debut for Nottingham Forest, playing the full 90 minutes in their dramatic Carabao Cup tie against Swansea City. But what started as a promising night for the Ukrainian international ended in heartbreak.

Forest looked to be cruising into the next round of the 2025/26 Carabao Cup after taking a commanding 2–0 lead into halftime. However, the second half turned into a nightmare for the home side. Swansea pulled one back in the 68th minute, setting up a tense finale at the City Ground. Then came the real shock: two goals deep into stoppage time flipped the script entirely, sending Nottingham Forest crashing out of the competition in dramatic fashion.

2025-26, EFL Cup

Swansea City - Nottingham Forest 3:2 (0:2)
Goals: Igor Jesus, 15 (0:1); Igor Jesus, 45 (0:2); Burgess, 68 (1:2); Vipotnik, 93 (2:2); Burgess, 97 (3:2)

Swansea City: Fisher A.; Key; Burgess; Samuels-Smith (Tymon, 63); Casey K.; Yalcouyé (Cullen L., 86); Galbraith; Ji-sung Eom; Franco (Widell, 63); Benson (Ronald, 64); Idah (Vipotnik, 79)
Substitution: Tymon (from 63); Widell (from 63); Ronald (from 64); Vipotnik (from 79); Cullen L. (from 86)
Bench: Cabango; Inoussa; Wales
Yellow Cards: Galbraith 31; Burgess 55; Key 58; Widell 88

Nottingham Forest: John Victor; Morato F. (Jair Cunha, 46); Boly; Savona; Douglas Luiz (Gibbs-White, 62); Hutchinson; Yates; Zinchenko; Mcatee (Sangaré I., 84); Bakwa (Hudson-Odoi, 62); Igor Jesus (Kalimuendo, 46)
Substitution: Jair Cunha (from 46); Kalimuendo (from 46); Hudson-Odoi (from 62); Gibbs-White (from 62); Sangaré I. (from 84)
Bench: Gunn; Abbott; Ndoye D.; Awoniyi
Yellow Cards: Savona 54; Gibbs-White 74