Latest Nottingham Forest news as Reds draw 2-2 with Manchester United after controversial City Ground goal
11:01, 02 Nov 2025
Nottingham Forest's Ryan Yates, Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona protest to referee Darren England after Manchester United's opening goal
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Nottingham Forest's Ryan Yates, Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona protest to referee Darren England after Manchester United's opening goal(Image: Getty)
For it to happen once might be considered bad luck, but Nottingham Forest are convinced something needs to change after being on the wrong end of controversy two weeks in a row.
The Reds are still searching for their first Premier League win since the opening day of the season, when Nuno Espirito Santo was still in charge. Sean Dyche has instilled a sense of steeliness since being appointed head coach less than a fortnight ago, but he is under no illusion he has several issues to address in order to turn around the club’s fortunes.
Keeping goals out of their own net is one such area in need of improvement, given Forest are without a clean-sheet in the league since April. But in their efforts to tidy up their defensive record, the Reds feel they are not being helped by some questionable decisions.
Forest’s struggles with set-pieces is one thing, but officials making disputed calls in the first place is quite another. For the second successive week, the Reds conceded the opening goal from a corner they argued should not have been awarded in the first place.
For Bournemouth little more than a week ago, read Manchester United this time around. Full-back Nicolo Savona was convinced he had prevented the ball from going out of play but the officials deemed otherwise, with assistant referee Akil Howson having indicated as such from the opposite side of the pitch. Perhaps inevitably, Casemiro duly scored from the flag-kick - much to the hosts’ fury.
Unlike on the south coast, where they were beaten 2-0, Dyche’s men came away with a 2-2 draw at the City Ground on Saturday. But that does not take away their frustration as Morgan Gibbs-White echoed Dyche’s call for something to be done.
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"The whole dressing room is frustrated not to get the three points and to concede (from) two silly corners,” the Reds playmaker told Sky Sports. “It's frustrating. I don't think the first one's even a corner, to be honest.
"From where I was standing, I was pretty far away, I didn't know if it went out. But all the boys were saying at half-time, the analysts, they said that the ball never went out.
“I think it's something that needs to be looked at because it has happened twice to us now in two weeks. Last week, against Bournemouth, it wasn't their corner. It's something they need to look at because it has cost us two points."
Gibbs-White equalised for the hosts soon after the break as a half-time team-talk from Dyche inspired a turnaround. Two minutes later Savona put his previous misfortune behind him to give his team the lead. However, they were unable to hang on for the three points as Amad Diallo volleyed in from another corner in the dying minutes.
Forest remain in the relegation zone but do at least have some positive foundations to build on under Dyche. They now turn their attention to a trip to take on Sturm Graz in the Europa League on Thursday, before hosting newly-promoted Leeds United in a huge game a few days later ahead of the international break.
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"We're back scoring now and we take the point and we move on,” Gibbs-White added. “We look at all the positives that take us into the next game.”
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