Nottingham Forest claimed a big point at Brighton as the team continued their unbeaten start to the 2024/24 campaign in the Premier League.
Chris Wood got Forest off to a flyer with his third goal of the season, scoring a penalty after Callum Hudson-Odoi had been fouled.
Brighton then turned the game full circle with goals from Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck, before Ramon Sosa equalised the Reds with 20 minutes to play.
The big flashpoint came after 82 minutes when Morgan Gibbs-White was sent off for a second yellow card.
A messy incident saw Rob Jones also dismiss managers Nuno Espirito Santo and Fabian Hurzeler from the technical area too.
The Forest head coach was incensed and he didn’t even front up for the media after the game.
Paul Robinson thinks he knows why Nuno Espirito Santo was furious vs Brighton
The flashpoint came as Gibbs-White flew into a tackle right in front of the two managers, with referee Rob Jones initially signalling that he played the ball.
However, it appeared as though someone said something to him from elsewhere and the next minute, Forest were down to 10 men.
Both managers were raging and after they were dismissed, talk turned to the tackle and the situation as a whole, with Robinson understanding why Espirito Santo was fuming.
He told BBC Sport: “He’s either got to stick to it [his first decision] or they [referees] have got to be told not to be so rash.
“He does get the ball, but it’s the force he goes with and the pace of the tackle where he catches the player and you can understand why the card has been given.
“It’s one of those: you can understand both arguments, but the referee has caused himself the problems by running over there and initially making the shape of the ball.
“Then, that’s when everything’s gone off because the Forest manager is immediately thinking ‘The referee’s told me he’s got the ball and now he’s sent him off, how can that be right?'”
Jones and Taylor surely won’t get Forest any time soon
It won’t go down well with Forest fans but there is some sympathy with Jones here. His biggest wrongdoing was going against his original decision and changing his mind on the say-so of someone else.
It’s no surprise that Taylor has felt the need to get involved. The week previous he set a Premier League record by showing 14 yellow cards during a win for Chelsea against Bournemouth.
The decision is subjective. Clearly Jones signals that he felt Gibbs-White played the ball and at that point, any outside interference should have been knocked on the head.
Jones was refereeing his first game since incorrectly sending off Willy Boly during a 3-2 defeat for Forest against Bournemouth last season, with the Reds getting an apology afterwards.
Taylor denied Forest a stonewall penalty against Newcastle last season and now he’s in hot water with the fan base once again.
Forest are quickly running out of referees that would be fancied to take charge of their games. Now, the days of Jones and Taylor getting our games has surely ceased.
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