Nottingham Forest’s last gasp equaliser against Brentford should have been ruled out for offside, according to football presenter Richard Keys.
The Reds came away from an incident-filled game against the Bees with a point thanks to a last-gasp own goal from defender Mathias Jorgensen. A scramble in the box led to an attempted clearance by Brentford but the ball ricocheted off the defender and over the line before Ben Mee could clear it.
The goal was awarded by the goal line technology. There was however a quick check by the Video Assistant Referee for offside before the equaliser was fully confirmed.
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Although Ryan Yates was in an offside position, he was deemed not to be interfering with play. Therefore the goal was allowed to stand.
Forest may have felt that they were entitled to some luck in the closing stages after they felt hard done by by decisions throughout the game. After Gibbs-White had given the Reds the lead in the first half, Brentford were given the chance to equalise from the penalty spot before the half time whistle.
A lengthy VAR check concluded that Dean Henderson had fouled Yoane Wissa when going for the ball. The decision came after Forest had three penalty shouts themselves waved away by referee Andre Marriner and Lee Mason On VAR.
Following the game, Forest goalscorer Gibbs-White didn’t hold back in his thoughts on the decisions throughout the game. Comments which are said to have launched an investigation by the FA .
"I think we deserved three points," Gibbs-White told the BBC . "We got cheated out of three points.
“It was two errors that cost us. We gave the ball away for their penalty and lost the ball again for the second goal. We battered them, really.
"We got cheated out of it. I looked at the penalty back and don't have a clue what the referee has seen. We came in at half-time angry, but we had to use that emotion to get back into the game.”
Keys responded to those comments on social media over the weekend, writing: “No you weren’t Morgan. Your late equaliser should’ve been disallowed.
“Yates is clearly off-side but Lee Mason in VAR missed another big one. Of course he was ‘affecting play’. The pen is arguable.”
The presenter also added more in his blog .
“Forest got away with one. Their second goal should have been ruled out. Yates is clearly off-side as Forest batter the door down looking for the equaliser.
“He’s standing behind the keeper and in front of Ben Mee, who’s doing his best to clear the ball off the line. Quite obviously Lee Mason (I know, him again) whose reviewing the goal in VAR, didn’t see there was only one defender behind Yates.
“This time there’s no opinion required. It’s a fact. But what do PGMOL do? They cover up by saying Yates wasn’t affecting play. Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.
“Forest fans will argue that Brentford’s pen was a mistake as well, because Henderson clearly gets a touch on the ball before he brings Wissa down. Over to you Lee…..”
It’s no surprise that Keys comments have prompted a reaction from Forest fans, with England cricketer and Reds’ fan Stuart Broad alongside those to reply to the Coventry City fan.
“Did you see a big difference in contact for Man City’s penalty on KDB (Kevin De Bruyne) that was given compared to Forest having 3 claims?
“MGW (Morgan Gibbs-White) & Dennis IMO had more contact than KDB. Haven’t seen another pundit mention Yates offside, have they all missed it?”
What do you think of Key's comments? Tell us in the comments section
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