'I'm very surprised': James Perch thinks Nottingham Forest star was lucky with VAR vs Newcastle
11/11/2024 03:30 AM
When it comes to football, you really can’t win them all and Nottingham Forest tasted a first defeat in four games against Newcastle.
The Reds had won three on the spin going into the City Ground clash but came up against a ruthless Magpies team on Trentside.
Murillo delighted Nuno Espirito Santo by opening the scoring but a second-half onslaught couldn’t be prevented and Forest were beaten comfortably.
Forest did a decent job in the first half and stifled the attacking threat that Newcastle had on display.
However, the second half proved a bridge too far and ultimately, Forest have dropped to fifth in the Premier League table.
Anthony Taylor was the referee for the game and some Forest fans bemoaned his influence on the clash.
In truth, there is some serious clutching of straws going on there, but the referee did not have any real impact on this game.
James Perch thinks Nottingham Forest star got really lucky with VAR vs Newcastle
For Perch, this was a game that saw his first two professional clubs come together in the Premier League.
He was on co-commentating duties for BBC Radio Nottingham and was quizzed on a number of things after the game.
One flashpoint came in the first half when Tino Livramento lay stricken following an altercation with Ryan Yates.
Perch feels that the Forest midfielder got a little bit lucky with that incident and on another day might have seen red.
He said live on BBC Radio Nottingham: “I’ll be honest the Yates one. I’m very surprised that wasn’t checked. Although he doesn’t swing it, he does catch him and I’m a bit surprised.”
Forest and VAR have love-hate relationship
Perhaps Forest did get the rub of the green with VAR on this occasion – but it’s about time!
It was a complete mystery in the second half why Dan Burn wasn’t shown a second yellow card but that would be nit-picking slightly at Taylor.
The officials’ performance had no bearing on the outcome of the game and Newcastle richly deserved their victory.
Perhaps Yates was somewhat lucky but the saving grace was probably the fact that there was no malice in the elbow.
Clearly he knows an opponent is closing him down but ultimately he doesn’t mean to catch Livramento in the face.
Still, it’s nice that Forest seemingly got away with one and hopefully some more decisions will come our way this season.
