Nottingham Forest felt they were unfairly treated after their penalty appeals were not considered in Manchester United’s routine victory
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper criticized the referees for not giving a penalty to his team against Manchester United, calling it a “really poor error.”
Despite the controversy, United managed to secure a 2-0 victory at the City Ground with goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot.
In the 19th minute, during a corner for Forest, Harry Maguire’s outstretched arm made contact with the ball at the far post.
VAR mistakes could haunt Forest in relegation battle
Forest immediately appealed for a penalty, but the referee, Simon Hooper, waved away their claims after consulting with the VAR. It’s worth noting that Maguire had already received a yellow card.
“I personally think it’s a penalty,” Cooper told Sky Sports after the game. “It’s a really, really poor error.
“The referee should see it, but I understand why he hasn’t because of the angle and the amount of players. But why the VAR hasn’t is not right, in my opinion.
“It’s another moment that will put big scrutiny on VAR. There’s been a lot of negative decisions over the last few weeks, and that’s another one.” said the Forest boss.
“I’m not going to stand here and say it’s the reason we didn’t win the game, although it could be a second yellow and a red for Maguire, and we could have scored the penalty and gone 1-0 up.
“It has a big impact, I’m really biting my tongue because I don’t want to use it as an excuse for why we lost the game or why we’re in the league position we are in; it’s not.
“But it’s a bad error. How [VAR] Andy Madley hasn’t seen it needs looking at.”
Nottingham Forest are currently in the Premier League relegation zone, with the same amount of points as 17th-placed Everton and behind them on goal difference. They have not won any of their last 10 games.
The lack of penalty decision in their recent match against Manchester United has come just a week after PGMOL apologized to Brighton for a number of questionable decisions in their game against Tottenham, raising more concerns about the standard of refereeing in the league.
