Nottingham Forest 2-3 Cherries: Solanke scores winner to complete late hat-trick

Ask every Premier League manager what they would like for Christmas and it is a fair bet that most would get rid of VAR.

After the latest pantomime, this time at Nottingham Forest, it seems fair to ask many more howlers it will it take for somebody to admit the system needs a rethink?

Dominic Solanke will not have the praise he deserves for his match-winning hat-trick, with the decisive goal coming in the fourth minute of added time. That is because Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game as Forest manager since replacing Steve Cooper saw his side forced to play for three-quarters of the match with 10 men due to one of the most ludicrous decisions of the season.

When Rob Jones showed Willy Boly a second yellow card for a clean tackle on Adam Smith in the 23rd minute, it was a clear and obvious error and could surely be corrected. Right? Wrong. VAR, you see, is not permitted to intervene on yellow cards and so Boly had to leave the field.

Of course we cannot have VAR judging every booking. It is already ruining the spectacle in its current form. But if it is helpless to act in the face of such a colossal blooper, what is it there for?

Forest fans let Jones know what they thought and so did an angry tweet from the club’s official account at half-time. Forest then took a surprise lead through Anthony Elanga and after Solanke had turned the match around, substitute Luis Sinisterra’s own-goal brought Forest level again in the closing stages. A point would have been an excellent result yet they were denied by Solanke’s precise header.

Boly was perhaps lucky only to be shown the yellow card when he floored Solanke as he raced past him in the fifth minute yet the award of the second yellow was a dreadful misjudgement on Jones’ part.

Chargin