Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has spoken out after club owner Evangelos Marinakis was seen arguing with him on the pitch.
On Sunday afternoon, Nottingham Forest’s hopes of securing a spot in the Champions League took a major blow as they drew 2-2 with Leicester City at home.
After the match, a highly animated Marinakis was seen walking onto the pitch, seemingly to argue with Espirito Santo about something that happened during the match,
And now, the Forest manager has spoken out to reveal exactly what was said and why the club owner was seemingly so angry.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Espirito Santo explained that the Forest owner was frustrated by his decision to keep striker Taiwo Awoniyi on the pitch after he had sustained an injury.
Espirito Santo then decided to use his final substitution to bring Jota Silva on for Elliot Anderson, meaning that his side were forced to play with 10 men for the closing moment of the game as it became clear Awoniyi couldn’t continue.
“That was due to the situation, it was confusion with the situation of T (Awoniyi), that frustration to play ten minutes with a player that we have so much confidence and being positive that he’s going to score immediately after we made the sub.” Espirito Santo explained. “After that, we played with one man less, and that frustrated everybody, it’s obvious.
“When there’s a player down, you get information, we got information that the player was ok and able to proceed, we made the sub, and unfortunately, T was not able to continue in helping the team.
“We are all frustrated because we felt that Leicester’s goal was not in the flow of the game.”
Evangelos Marinakis bought Nottingham Forest in 2017. (Image: Getty)
When asked if he believed that Marinakis’ behaviour was acceptable and if it made his job more difficult, the Forest manager remained calm, adding: “Football is emotions, it’s difficult to control, especially when we had so much expectations and the fans were incredible.
“This situation, this fight, is no longer in our hands now, but it’s not finished.”
Sunday’s incident was not the first time that the Forest owner has been involved in controversy due to his behaviour,
In October, the FA handed Marinakis a five-match stadium ban for spitting on the floor in front of the match officials following Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 loss in a Premier League match against Fulham.
Marinakis’ appeal to overturn the decision was later dismissed, with the FA stating that he ‘significantly undermine[d] respect for the game of football‘ with his actions.
