VAR actually made a big mistake during Crystal Palace 1-1 Nottingham Forest (opinion)

Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest played out an entertaining 1-1 draw on Monday night.

Nuno Espirito Santo saw his side drop two points in the fight for UEFA Champions League qualification as an instinctive flick by Murillo salvaged a point, after Eberechi Eze put Crystal Palace ahead with a penalty.

Nottingham Forest are now outside of the top five with three Premier League games remaining.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	35	25	7	3	81	35	46	82
2	ArsenalArsenal	35	18	13	4	64	31	33	67
3	Man CityManchester City	35	19	7	9	67	43	24	64
4	NewcastleNewcastle	35	19	6	10	66	45	21	63
5	ChelseaChelsea	35	18	9	8	62	41	21	63
6	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	35	18	7	10	54	42	12	61

It was Matz Sels who Andy Madley penalised for the penalty, booking the Belgian after he was deemed to have wiped Tyrick Mitchell out – a decision Nicolas Dominguez will have felt hugely relieved by.

Andy Madley should have dismissed Nicolas Dominguez

Watching the incident back, it is clear the Argentine catches Mitchell – who Spurs want – before Sels does.

Crucially, Dominguez was already on a booking having fouled Ismaila Sarr just six minutes into the game, so the South American really ought to have been shown a second yellow card after denying Mitchell a goalscoring opportunity.

In truth, the error lies more with Madley than it does with those in the VAR booth over at Stockley Park.

Bizarrely, the 41-year-old did not even think it was a penalty at the time, before his colleagues swiftly sent him over to the screen to amend his error.

VAR does not typically see second yellow cards issued, although it does have the power to retrospectively issue bookings, as we saw happen to Pape Matar Sarr during Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham last month.

The Senegal international thought he had equalised, but it was later decided he fouled Moises Caicedo before his strike and a yellow card was shown.

Nottingham Forest maintain unbeaten record against Crystal Palace but worrying trend continues

Murillo – who Real Madrid admire – ensured Crystal Palace are still yet to beat Nottingham Forest in nine league encounters between the two sides, a record the Reds will be proud of.

However, Eze’s goal means Nottingham Forest have now conceded first in four of their last five Premier League games, having only done so four times in the opening 18 Premier League matches of the season.

Nuno has only seen his side win once in games where they have conceded the first goal, so this concerning trend needs to disappear if Nottingham Forest are to get back into the top five.

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