Nuno Espirito Santo says he was left stunned as VAR fails to send off James Maddison for ‘punching’ Ryan Yates in the stomach.
It came just before half time with the scoreline at 1-1. Referee Simon Hooper had a conversation with both Maddison and Yates but didn’t issue any cards from his pocket, with the video assistant referee (VAR) also not intervening.
Maddison stayed on the pitch until being subbed off in the 76th minute with Tottenham going on to win 3-1, taking the lead through Murillo before the visitors levelled courtesy of Chris Wood.
Micky van de Ven then got Tottenham’s ahead again, before Pedro Porro made it 3-1.
“Get on with the game, toughen up a little bit” š¤
Roy Keane thinks Yates was ‘dramatic’ the way he went down in the clash with Maddison… pic.twitter.com/5TAuytS0hQ
ā Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024
VAR 1: āMaddison punches Yates in the stomach, shall we send the ref to the screen?ā
VAR 2: āSh*t punch though. Didnāt even send him to the floor.ā
VAR: 1: āF**k it. Leave it then.ā pic.twitter.com/FM8wJ5clvC
ā Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 7, 2024
#NFFC manager Nuno Espirito Santo believes James Maddison should have been sent off after a ‘punch in the stomach’.
How did you see it? š¤#BBCFootball #TOTNFO pic.twitter.com/2NsUVx6gVX
ā Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 7, 2024
“It’s a red card,” Nuno told BBC Match of the Day.
“I was surprised VAR didn’t [send Maddison off]. Maddison lost composure and punched Yates in the stomach.
“What they saw clearly is not the same as we saw. I wouldn’t speak if I wasn’t 100% sure.”
Nuno added, per Nottingham Post: āIt doesnāt look like he punched him, he did punch him. I saw the image.
āI was surprised VAR didnāt tell Simon (referee Simon Hooper) to review it. With all my respects, it is a punch in the stomach of Yates and should have been reviewed and a different decision.
āI didnāt ask the referee about it. But I saw it, thatās why I have no problem telling you I didnāt see it the same way (as the officials). We do not agree, me and VAR.ā
āThere are two moments in the first half we have mentioned that could change the game,ā Nuno said, referencing to the Maddison incident and Woodās miss. āThe first goal is beautiful – the way Chris took his shot and the movement on the right side. And then he had a good chance (to score again).
āChris has been huge for us. He has been so important. What he does overcomes all of that.
āThe first half was very good. The game we wanted to play, we achieved. We controlled Tottenham, had good spells, scored and had good chances.
āIām disappointed with the way we started the second half and the way we conceded. We knew Tottenham would react. We should have been more aggressive, reduced the spaces and not allowed those moments.
āThe difference between the halves is what makes me disappointed. I wanted the second half to sustain and go again, but unfortunately we didnāt achieve it.ā
“It’s clear… it’s a red card!” š„
Nuno EspĆrito Santo thinks Nottingham Forest were on the wrong side of refereeing decisions in their 3-1 loss to Spurs š¤ pic.twitter.com/ceUScyBzHj
ā Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024
Yates said to Sky Sports: “James Maddison is a good player, I know he makes them tick. It’s my job to disrupt the momentum.
“A few decisions probably didn’t go our way but we’ve seen the inconsistency in the Premier League this season.”
Redknapp said that Yates was to blame for the incident. Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: ‘It’s not a lot. Yates is like that, he tries to get into players’ faces, a bit like Gascoigne and Vinnie Jones many years ago.’
Keane, who previously worked with Yates at Nottingham Forest, said that the 26 year old went down too easily.
Keane said: ‘I worked with Yates at Forest, really nice kid, but every week somebody touches him he goes down. He goes down far too easily. For such a decent lad he needs to cut that out of his game.’
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to BBC Sport following the win:Ā “It had a bit of everything. We got off to a decent start. We imposed ourselves on the game.
“We lost our way a little bit, but the whole second half we were very dominant.”
On deciding to make the double change at half-time:Ā “Just some energy and legs. Three games in a week, they had given all they could, so we got some legs in there. Pierre [Emile Hojbjerg] and Rodrigo [Bentancur] were outstanding.”
On the goals:Ā “I love defenders scoring. We were pushing them into those areas.”
On Micky van de Ven:Ā “Just his sheer desire to be the best he can be. He has got so many great qualities. People talk about his speed, but he is strong and he is getting better and better on the ball.”
On being fourth in the Premier League:Ā “That is all we want to do, and keep going. Everyone has been banging on about us getting fourth. We are fourth now, but it doesn’t stop. We will keep going.
“We are in a good shape to finish the season strong.”
Twitter users gave their reaction with Nuno Espirito Santo stunned as VAR fails to send off James Maddison for ‘punching’ Ryan Yates…
@ISimpson73: Yet another disgusting abysmal officiating by the VAR muppets, it’s going to backfire when a team takes the @FA_PGMOL to court one of these days, Wolves certainly have justification.
@darren_tv: So what heās saying is roll with the punches š¤ Football has moved on Roy. Keep up or step back šš» It was a punch to the stomach. Red if badge reversed.
@paul_mehigan: If thatās a punch and enough to knock a lad like Yates to the ground for 30 seconds, Iām taking up boxing and Iāll be heavyweight champion of the world in a month. Yates should be ashamed of himself.
@seth_b2509: āGet on with the gameā reverse the clubs and sky sports are genuinely CRYING over this.
@C99Cody1: Itās a red back when you played and itās a red nowšš if football was played how you wanted, people would be getting assaulted every game
@FormalGamer_: Absolute bollocks….. we arnt playing in there era anymore. We have a set of rules and Var, if this was against Spurs and Spurs lost the game these 2 would be crying for a red card. Just talking nonsense
@Rich_Jaques: If it was Yates on Maddisonā¦ Yates gets sent off, no doubt about it #nffc
@JerseySpur5: First time Iāve seen this properly. Fucking hell Forest made out Yates was assaulted. I can barely see contact let alone a āpunchā. Good to see Keane quite rightly calling it out. Embarrassing
@danscapephoto: Itās not one or the other: Itās a soft punch, but itās still a red. Itās an over reaction, but itās still a red. You cant be debating what kind of punch is a red or not then complain about inconsistent referring. Only option is red for any punch. #nffc
@Arjun_Johal5: So it’s ok to punch someone then Roy? Just play on? #nffc
@Dazzathehammer: Unfortunately Roy, the games moved on from the dinosaurs of football like yourself. Have you seen Maddison dive to the floor like heās been shot!!! Same as Sakaā¦ā¦ The refs are so poor you have to jump on the floor to get any decision these days
@CarlosNFFC: Maddison gave Yates a love tap in the tummy.. it didn’t need the pathetic reaction from Yates… also should of been sent off for asking ref to get VAR to look at it. Side not maybe VAR looked at it and thought Yates is a cheating sh1t house majority of the time so giving him nothing. 100% refs will know Yates rep now #NFFC
@andyc4121: To be fair I think Yates was pretty clever – he never asked the ref to look at it, he was pointing at our dugout so I think that is why he got away with it. There was nothing in the punch but the other way round I think it might have been looked at
@NFFCRED: Lost count of decisions against us this season been utter joke in this corrupt league!
@Owen27078397: Not even shocked anymore. Just add it to the pile #NFFC
@andyc_128: 627th decision this season that’s gone against them. IF ONLY they’d complained a bit more …….
@josh_morse2002: Yates was an embarrassment in the away game and was pathetic again today. Bored of this guy complaining about decisions all the time too. Focusing on keeping the club in the league should be the only worry.
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