Refereeing decisions won’t be concerning Nottingham Forest fans on Saturday after their 7-0 win over Brighton, but Richard Keys spotted one error that VAR made in the game.
Evangelos Marinakis was spotted celebrating with the Forest players at full-time after the remarkable Premier League victory, one that brings Forest level on points with Arsenal in the race for Champions League football.
It’s difficult to pick out a star performance at the City Ground, with Chris Wood’s hattrick potentially overshadowed by Anthony Elanga’s three assists in the game.
Manchester United fans were frustrated watching Elanga after they let him leave Old Trafford, adding an extra bit of joy to Forest fans who will be feeling particularly and understandably smug on Saturday.
One potential downside to the game was Murillo having to go off injured but Forest fans spotted Murillo moving freely in the changing room amongst the celebrations.
The negativity was left to the football pundits, then, with Keys taking to social media to voice his displeasure at one VAR decision in the match.
Richard Keys criticises VAR interference in Chris Wood goal
Arguably, the most important goal of the game was the third as Wood latched on to a perfect Elanga cross to head home at the back post.
However, the celebrations were halted by VAR after a lengthy investigation to determine whether Wood was offside. Despite the fact that replays showed the Kiwi forward was clearly onside, the inspection lasted many minutes before a decision was made and announced to stadium supporters.
Keys definitely took issue with this, tweeting a photo of the graph displayed on TV and writing, “This isn’t even accurate. The line passes through Dunk’s boot. “He is even more ‘on’ than this.”
The decision had little effect on the outcome, which relieved Marinakis and the Forest manager, but the broader dissatisfaction with VAR’s effectiveness could have been a bigger issue than it was.
Forest have had a number of annoying experiences with VAR this season, with Keys’ complaints being only the most recent in a run of heated reactions.
Nottingham Forest has a tough connection with VAR.
As recently as Forest’s 3-2 win against Southampton, Espirito Santo would have been irritated by two decisions using VAR, or lack thereof.
First, Flynn Downes may have been sent off against Forest for two rapid yellow card-worthy challenges that referee Anthony Taylor overlooked, but VAR did not interfere in the event, which would have made the game substantially more easy for the Forest squad.
Prior to this, Marinakis went on an explosive VAR rant, claiming that he does not see how it has helped the game given the system’s constant failures.
Most memorably, however, was Forest’s VAR remark following the loss to Everton last season, during the dispute surrounding three penalties that may have been awarded in Espirito Santo’s favour, an outburst that resulted in the club being punished.
On Saturday, any potential VAR errors were irrelevant to a brilliant performance against Brighton, but on another day, Keys’ frustrations could have been more widely felt.
