Nottingham Forest defeated Southampton 1-0 yesterday to maintain an unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign.
For Nuno Espirito Santo it was a positive performance from his charges and he will be looking to build on this win and a big clean sheet.
The Reds head coach did have an eventful afternoon, it has to be said, and he was making headlines, particularly during the first half.
Forest were appointed Sam Barrott as the referee for the match and there was an incident in the first half that left the head coach puzzled.
What left Nuno Espirito Santo angry vs Southampton
The flashpoint came in the first 45 minutes when a tackle from Ben Brereton Diaz was a somewhat unsavoury challenge on Anthony Elanga.
It was the kind of tackle that just screams yellow card but for some reason, Barrott chose not to caution the striker.
Paul Taylor watching on at St Mary’s Stadium posted his account of the incident and it was clear that Espirito Santo wasn’t happy.
He said: “Now Brereton Diaz absolutely cleans out Elana…and somehow escapes a booking. Bizarre.
“As a footnote to this, it is worth noting that Nuno was booked for complaining about this incident. Which will only have been salt in the wound.
“Genuinely a truly impossible decision to explain from referee Barrott.”
Espirito Santo was forced to take his medicine with the yellow card and that forced him to curb his enthusiasm on the touchline.
Forest will hope for better luck with decisions this season
The Reds got themselves a bit of a reputation last season – and not a positive one.
There was the appointment of Mark Clattenburg that riled a lot of people and it certainly didn’t help Forest get many decisions.
Forest were on the wrong end of some stinkers but ultimately, Forest had to get their own house in order too.
The Reds did get some bad luck with penalties and disallowed goals but the team also conceded the most amount of set-piece goals last term.
This time around Forest will hope for some better luck but the team looks determined to get their own house in order as well.
With Espirito Santo at the helm, there is hope that Forest can kick on and he will hope to avoid picking up too many yellow cards this season.
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