Nottingham Forest had plenty to celebrate on Sunday, despite being held 2-2 by relegated Leicester City at the City Ground, as the point guaranteed that they would be playing European football next season.
It’s been 30 years since Forest competed in Europe, and although the draw meant that the club’s Champions League hopes are now out of their own hands, Forest’s achievement was not the biggest post-match talking point.
That’s because the club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis made his way onto the pitch at the final whistle to confront manager Nuno Espirito Santo, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville calling the Greek’s behaviour ’scandalous’ on X (formerly Twitter).
Why Evangelos Marinakis confronted Nuno Espirito Santo
Fans and viewers were left wondering what had made Marinakis head onto the pitch following the match which saw Forest drop two points following Facundo Buonanotte’s 81st-minute equaliser, after goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood had seemed to put the hosts in the driving seat.
Following the incident, both Nuno and Marinakis were quick to explain what had happened.
The cause of Marinakis’ entry onto the pitch was his reaction to substitute Taiwo Awoniyi’s late injury. The striker had been bought on following Leicester’s equaliser and soon clattered into the post following a Forest counter-attack.
After receiving treatment, he came back onto the pitch, but was limping and clearly in discomfort. Forest had subsequently made their fial substitution, which meant Awoniyi could not be replaced and had to see out the game.
“It was disappointing for everyone,” Nuno explained. “It was too painful for Taiwo to push and help the team and it was a misunderstanding between the coaching staff and the medical department.
The Forest boss then went on to praise th club’s owner: “It’s because of the owner and his passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us and wants us to be better. I have been in football so many years. As a club, we owe a lot to the Marinakis family.”
Marinakis followed up this show of support with a statement of his own on Instagram.
“Today is a day for celebration, because after thirty years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again, a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion!,” he posted.
“Everybody- coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself- we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgement on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game. This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our Club. Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming!”
