Nottingham Forest are considering whether to lodge an official complaint with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) over the performance of the officials in their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, as reported by the Telegraph.
There is never a shortage of drama at Old Trafford whether it’s on or off the pitch. This weekend it seems to be a matter of Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper leaving the Theatre of Dreams feeling irked by some of the decisions made by officials.
Manchester United forced a comeback after trailing by two goals after three minutes of play. Forest were reduced to 10 men and conceded a penalty before going behind in the match.
Forest captain Joe Worrall was shown a straight red card for what referee Stuart Attwell deemed a last-man foul on Bruno Fernandes. Forest will question the decision based on the presence of Willy Boly.
And, if you listened to former Arsenal defender turned pundit Martin Keown on Match of the Day last night, you would have heard his rant about the penalty United were awarded in the second half.
That was when the drama unfolded further after Danilo fouled Marcus Rashford inside the box. That was before Fernandes stood up to convert his penalty, making it 3-2 and securing the win for his side.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Cooper made his feelings known without elaborating on them (via BBC): “In games like this you need things to be how they should. I am not going to talk too much as I don’t want to get into trouble but I was surprised how quickly the decisions were made.
“You just bite your tongue in terms of what [you] really feel but of course they are defining moments.”
Although VAR looked at both incidents and sided with Attwell’s on-pitch judgements, Forest are set to decide in the coming hours whether to go directly to PGMOL.
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