VAR controversy at Nottingham Forest again as Manchester United extend winning run

Hopes of securing much needed points against a depleted Manchester United side were dashed as Nottingham Forest conceded twice against Erik Ten Hag’s side, continuing their poor run of form in the Premier League.

With Marcel Sabitzer also getting injured in the warm-up, yesterday’s fixture felt like Forest’s best chance to cause another upset at the City Ground.

Before kick off, Forest’s team sheet provided reason for optimism.

Niakhate was a surprise inclusion for Forest fans after the Senegalese defender looked to have suffered another hamstring injury against Villa. Fans were also buoyed by the return of Scott McKenna, which gave Cooper more options in his preferred back three.

Equally, the return of Taiwo Awoniyi to the starting line-up added to Forest’s threat against Champions league chasing United, who were also without Marcus Rashford.

A key talking point yet again for Forest was VAR’s decision not to award a penalty after the ball appeared to make clear contact with Maguire’s arm following a dangerous Forest corner.

Steve Cooper was quick to comment on the incident in his post-match press conference, but did not want to use this as an excuse for the loss.

“It’s not the absolute reason why we lost the game but I think it’s a definite penalty from Maguire and possibly a second yellow card and could be a game changer.

“I repeat, it’s not the reason why we lost and I’m not going to hide behind a penalty decision but it is a really, really, really, bad error.

“They (VAR) apologised last week and they’re going to have to apologise again tomorrow which means absolutely nothing but it’s happened too many times for me.”

Regardless, Forest did have their chances to take the lead in the first half after some bright spells.

Scott McKenna’s header from a corner struck the post and Taiwo Awoniyi’s struck a golden opportunity over the bar minutes before half-time.

Despite a lively five minutes from Cooper’s side after the break, the gulf in class began to show.

This was particularly the case in midfield, as Casemiro, Fernandes and Erikson controlled the pace of the game for United. Spaces opened up and Forest really struggled to maintain meaningful possession beyond their defensive line for much of the game.

Although Navas’ goalkeeping heroics and Felipe’s diligent defending kept United out, Forest were caught lacking in midfield and the pressure from United became too much for Forest to deal with.

“I felt that we didn’t look after the first pass well enough in the first half. There were too many times when we gave it away”, Cooper told press after the game.

“The goals were two examples of when you turn it over sloppily like we did you get punished”.

The issue highlighted by Cooper further shows how sorely Forest are missing Ryan Yates. The midfielder was absent from the squad today, despite being seen in his tracksuit at the stadium.

Yesterday’s result sees Forest remain in the bottom three ahead of their fixture against Liverpool next weekend.