After feeling they were cursed by refereeing decisions, Nottingham Forest found themselves on the right side of a tight call from the officials that denied Burnley their first win of the season.
Burnley thought they had their first win of the season when Lyle Foster tapped in from close range late on, only for the goal to be ruled out for handball by Sander Berge in the build-up – after a VAR check. Foster was later shown a straight red card for an elbow on Ryan Yates, prompting anti-Premier League chants from the Burnley fans.
Referee Rob Jones was on VAR duty at Old Trafford last month when Forest felt they were given a raw deal by officials, but this time it was Burnley who would have felt aggrieved.
In front of cricketing greats Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s stunning equaliser on his Forest debut rescued a point for the home side after Zeki Amdouni had given the Clarets a first-half lead.
Forest’s record signing Ibrahim Sangare made his debut after a £32million move from PSV Eindhoven while Callum Hudson-Odoi – another deadline-day arrival – also started the match.
Burnley opened the scoring the first 41st minute of the game on Monday evening
Callum Hudson-Odoi scores stunning equaliser in the second half of the game
Lyle Foster scored a winner in the 76th minute of the game but had his goal ruled out
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Though Vincent Kompany insisted otherwise, Burnley were clearly timewasting in the opening minutes. The game was only 10 minutes old when goalkeeper James Trafford was booked for dawdling over a restart, and Charlie Taylor took an age over throw-ins.
Kompany protested to the fourth official and in those early stages, he looked uneasy. Taiwo Awoniyi’s shot was blocked by Ameen Al Dakhil and Hudson-Odoi’s 20-yard effort was saved after Awoniyi had robbed Jordan Beyer.
Then Gibbs-White, who was lively in the first 20 minutes, darted into the box only to slip at the crucial moment. Moments later Orel Mangala’s cross was just cut out as Awoniyi lurked.
That was about the time when Burnley took control. Once they clicked into rhythm, Kompany’s men finally looked like the team who dominated the Championship last season and Forest grew more and more anxious.
Amdouni’s low strike drew a fine save from Matt Turner after Josh Brownhill had robbed Anthony Elanga and then Koleosho set to work on Gonzalo Montiel. Montiel will be remembered for the rest of his life for scoring the winning penalty in the World Cup Final shoot-out but he did not enjoy his first 45 minutes here.
First the Argentina defender was left on his heels by Luca Koleosho and his next contribution was to give the ball straight to Josh Cullen, whose cross skidded across the face of goal.
Clearly rattled, Montiel went into the book for a late challenge on Brownhill yet even as they struggled, Forest should have taken the lead in the 37th minute. Sangare rose unmarked inside the six-yard box only to nod Gibbs-White’s corner wide.
Forest were punished four minutes later. The impressive Koleosho zoomed around the outside of Joe Worrall and even though Lyle Foster miskicked, the ball broke to Amdouni 20 yards out and his left-foot volley found the bottom corner.
Foster then found himself in hot water after elbowing Yates in stoppage time of the game
VAR checked whether the incident was violent and told the referee to consult the monitor
The referee was quick to deem it violent conduct and awarded Foster a red card
67 MIN: Montiel lasted only seven minutes of the second half before he was dragged off and replaced by Nuno Tavares. Forest were trying to regain momentum but though they pushed forward, there were no clear chances.
Mangala fired over the bar and saw another shot blocked, before Gibbs-White headed Sangare’s cross too high after Koleosho had been caught in possession.
Yet Forest did finally draw level thanks a memorable moment in Hudson-Odoi’s career. Collecting Awoniyi’s lay-off on the left corner of the box, Hudson-Odoi shifted the ball to his right foot and despatched a curling effort in off the post.
It looked briefly as though Hudson-Odoi’s may be denied his debut goal by a painstaking VAR check for an offside against Awoniyi, but the goal stood. Forest boss Steve Cooper was increasingly agitated on the side and leapt about in frustration when Gibbs-White’s shot hit Cullen’s hand and no penalty was given.
The game had taken a while to get going but it was in full flow now. Burnley brought on Sander Berge and Anass Zaroury for Zamdouni and Johann Gudmundsson and continued to look smooth in possession.
Cooper replied by removing Hudson-Odoi and giving a debut to Divock Origi, while Ryan Yates arrived in midfield to replace Mangala.
As Amdouni had done, Zaroury looked bright and was angry with himself when he volleyed into the travelling fans.
By this time Forest looked the likelier winners but they were undone by a howler from Scott McKenna, who got himself in a tangle over a hopeful ball forward. That allowed Berge to sneak beyond him and roll the ball across for Foster, who steered home from close range.
The visitors joy turned to pain, though, when referee Rob Jones was invited to check the monitor and ruled the goal out for a handball by Berge. The decision was marginal as the ball appeared only to brush the Norwegian’s upper arm – but Forest did not care.
Sangare had a shaky debut and he was bailed out by McKenna after dawdling near his own goal, and Foster put the header just wide.
There was still time for Burnley to demand a penalty after a goalmouth scramble, and following another VAR check Jones opted to show Foster a straight red card for an apparent elbow on Yates.
More to follow…
