Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira has delivered sympathy to Darren England after he refereed the 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
The Yorkshire-based match official was in the limelight as City appealed for no fewer than two penalties as they chased a goal that would keep the Premier League title in their own hands.
Forest have thrown the race firmly in Arsenal’s favour, however, with Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson – both linked with City in the past – scoring to silence the Etihad Stadium.
Gibbs-White praised Pereira after the game against City, but the Forest boss was in the mood to praise the match referee for his performance instead.
Vitor Pereira thought Darren England got Erling Haaland decision spot on
With City chasing a winner, Haaland got on the end of a perfect through ball and after taking a touch, Matz Sels looked to bring him down.
Replays proved somewhat inconclusive, with Haaland looking to change the direction of his run to ensure Sels contacted him, rather than the fall being natural.
Pereira expressed how well he thought England performed, which made for a refreshing change of tack from a Premier League manager in the modern era.
He said during his press conference: “It’s normal in football. They want to win, to push the referee; this is normal. In my opinion, this is not a game where we can complain about the referee.”
Pereira was keen to place the emphasis on his players after their performance last night, and after failing to beat the team in 17th place, City can have no complaints.
It’s not uncommon, however, for one of the bigger clubs to bemoan referees when things don’t go their way and Forest will bank this point and now look to claim some wins in the coming weeks.
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