Nuno Espirito Santo criticises decision to award Fulham penalty as Forest beaten

Posted Sunday, September 29, 2024 by PA

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo criticised the referee again after his side’s unbeaten Premier League start ended in a 1-0 home defeat to Fulham.

Raul Jimenez converted his 50th English top-flight goal via a controversial penalty after a lengthy VAR check had concluded with referee Josh Smith viewing the pitchside monitor and pointing to the spot.

Fulham’s Andreas Pereira had gone down under Murillo’s challenge, but Nuno claimed the match officials had got the decision wrong.

Forest were further aggrieved later in the second half when another VAR penalty decision went against them – this time following Fulham defender Calvin Bassey’s tackle in the area on substitute Anthony Elanga.

Forest’s senior management conveyed after the match that they too were growing increasingly frustrated at the standard of refereeing in the top flight.

Nuno said: “We all want peace and to continue well and don’t want to come here to speak about the referees. But it was bad wasn’t it?

“Even the one in Fulham’s box also – the situation with Bassey and Anthony also.

“They looked, but they don’t have the same opinion as we do. Let’s just hope for the next one that we are not talking about the referees.

“I try to give referees peace. They are trying to improve, but today was not the best day.

“We don’t want to talk about (referees). Nobody wants to talk about it. When we come to the game, we don’t think about the referees.

“We just want to compete and play the game and hope the referee gets things right.

“But today he didn’t do a good job, so I hope that he improves.”

Forest lost for the first time in six league matches this season and were left waiting for their first home league win since April.

Nuno avoided a touchline ban for Saturday’s fixture after being sent off for protesting against Morgan Gibbs-White’s red card in last week’s 2-2 draw at Brighton.

The Portuguese was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Tuesday and Forest are understood to have been granted an extension before submitting their observations on his red card and, with the case ongoing, he was able to take his place in the dugout.

Nuno already has a suspended one-match ban hanging over him for criticising match officials after his side’s defeat at Everton last season.

Fulham boss Marco Silva felt his side deserved all three points after they extended their unbeaten league run to five matches and climbed up to sixth in the table.

The Portuguese said he had not seen video of the two incidents, but had been told by his staff that Murillo’s challenge was a clear penalty.

Silva said: “It’s a great three points for us and a great battle. A tight game as we expected. The boys did really well.

“When we had to keep our organisation and show our character in the last minutes, we showed it – from the first minute to be honest.

“The reality is not one chance from Nottingham throughout the game. I believe we commanded much more of the game and controlled the game on the ball.”