After feeling cursed by refereeing decisions, Nottingham Forest found themselves on the right side of a close call from officials that denied Burnley their first win of the season.
Burnley thought they had secured their first win of the season when Lyle Foster tapped in from close range late on, only for the goal to be ruled out for handball by Sander Berge in the build-up – after a VAR check. Foster then received a straight red card for an elbow on Ryan Yates, sparking anti-Premier League chants from Burnley fans.
Referee Rob Jones was on VAR duty at Old Trafford last month when Forest felt the officials had given them a brutal deal, but this time it was Burnley who would have felt aggrieved.
In front of cricketing greats Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s stunning equalizer on his Forest debut saved a point for the home side after Zeki Amdouni gave the Clarets a first-half lead .
Forest’s record signing Ibrahim Sangare made his debut following a £32million move from PSV Eindhoven while Callum Hudson-Odoi – another deadline day arrival – also started the match.
Burnley opened the scoring in the 41st minute of the match on Monday evening.
Callum Hudson-Odoi scores a superb equalizer in the second half of the match
It was a dream debut for Hudson-Odoi – making his debut for Nottingham Forest
Lyle Foster scored a winner in the 76th minute of the match but his goal was ruled out
Despite Vincent Kompany insisting otherwise, Burnley were clearly losing time in the opening minutes. The match was only 10 minutes old when goalkeeper James Trafford was booked for dawdling on a restart, and Charlie Taylor took an age for throw-ins.
Kompany protested to the fourth official and, at first, he looked worried. Taiwo Awoniyi’s shot was blocked by Ameen Al Dakhil and Hudson-Odoi’s 20-yard effort was saved after Awoniyi robbed Jordan Beyer.
Then Gibbs-White, who looked lively for the first 20 minutes, rushed into the box only to slip at the crucial moment. Moments later, Orel Mangala’s center was just cut off as Awoniyi hid.
This is around the time Burnley took control. Once they got into rhythm, Kompany’s men finally looked like the team that dominated the Championship last season and Forest became increasingly anxious.
Amdouni’s low strike drew a fine save from Matt Turner after Josh Brownhill had robbed Anthony Elanga, then Koleosho went to work on Gonzalo Montiel. Montiel will be remembered for the rest of his life for scoring the winning penalty in the penalty shootout in the World Cup final, but he didn’t enjoy his first 45 minutes here.
The Argentine defender was initially left on his heels by Luca Koleosho and his next contribution was to feed the ball directly to Josh Cullen, whose cross skidded across the face of goal.
Visibly shaken, Montiel went into the book for a late challenge on Brownhill, but even though they struggled Forest should have taken the lead in the 37th minute. Sangaré rose unmarked inside the six-yard box only to nod Gibbs-White’s corner.
Forest were punished four minutes later. The impressive Koleosho zoomed around Joe Worrall’s outside and although Lyle Foster made a kicking error, the ball arrived to Amdouni 20 yards out and his left-footed volley found the bottom corner.
Foster then found himself in hot water after elbowing Yates in stoppage time of the match.
VAR checked if the incident was violent and asked the referee to consult the monitor
The referee was quick to consider this to be violent behavior and awarded Foster a red card.
67 MIN: Montiel lasted just seven minutes of the second half before being taken off and replaced by Nuno Tavares. Forest were trying to regain momentum, but although they pushed forward there was no clear chance.
Mangala shot over the bar and saw another shot blocked, before Gibbs-White headed Sangare’s cross too high after Koleosho was caught in possession.
However, Forest eventually equalized thanks to a memorable moment in Hudson-Odoi’s career. Collecting Awoniyi’s lay-off in the left corner of the area, Hudson-Odoi shifted the ball to his right foot and sent a curling effort wide of the post.
It briefly looked like Hudson-Odoi might be disallowed his first goal due to a VAR check for offside against Awoniyi, but the goal stood. Forest boss Steve Cooper was growing increasingly agitated in the sideline and jumped up in frustration when Gibbs-White’s shot hit Cullen’s hand and no penalty was awarded.
The game had taken a while to get going, but it was now in full swing. Burnley brought on Sander Berge and Anass Zaroury to replace Zamdouni and Johann Gudmundsson and continued to look fluent in possession.
Cooper responded by removing Hudson-Odoi and giving Divock Origi a debut, while Ryan Yates came into midfield to replace Mangala.
As Amdouni had done, Zaroury looked bright and was angry with himself as he launched into the traveling supporters.
At that point, Forest looked the likeliest winners, but they were undone by a screamer from Scott McKenna, who found himself stranded by a hopeful ball. This allowed Berge to sneak past him and roll the ball for Foster, who headed home from close range.
The visitors’ joy turned to pain, however, when referee Rob Jones was asked to check the monitor and ruled out the goal for a Berge handball. The decision was marginal as the ball appeared to only graze the Norwegian’s upper arm – but Forest didn’t care.
Sangaré got off to a shaky start and he was bailed out by McKenna after hanging around near his own goal, and Foster headed just wide.
There was still time for Burnley to claim a penalty after a scrum in goal, and after another VAR check, Jones opted to show Foster a straight red card for an apparent elbow on Yates.
Vincent Kompany was furious with the disallowed goal and made his feelings clear on the side
Luca Koleosho (pictured right) showed exceptional pace during the match
