Howard Webb, the PGMOL chief, has confessed that Nottingham Forest should have been given a penalty in their contentious 2-0 Premier League loss to Everton earlier this month.
The Reds were saw three penalty appeals waved away by referee Anthony Taylor, prompting anger among the visitors. Following the match, Nottingham Forest criticised the refereeing of Taylor and Video Assistant Referee Stuart Attwell, accusing them of making "three extremely poor decisions".
The club also released a scathing statement suggesting bias towards relegation rivals Luton Town. One of these disputed decisions occurred in the second half when Everton defender Ashley Young seemed to trip Forest's Callum Hudson-Odoi as he sprinted towards the goal.
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Despite Forest's initial objections, Taylor was not advised to reassess the incident on the pitch-side VAR monitor, and the game proceeded. Webb has since disclosed that he would have "preferred" for Taylor to make a judgement on the incident after consulting the pitch-side monitor.
He suggests that if this had happened, a different decision might have been reached. During the latest episode of the Premier League's Mic'd Up referee show, Webb discussed Hudson-Odoi's penalty claim. Here's what he had to say:
Host and former England striker Michael Owen asked: "Everyone I've spoken to thinks that was a penalty. Explain how VAR came to that decision."
Webb responded: "I understand why we would have preferred an intervention on this situation. The referee waves away the penalty appeal. The VAR looks at
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