Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira called for a sit down with referees to fully get to grips with the handball law because he admits he “doesn’t understand the decisions”.
It comes after Manchester United secured a 3-2 win over his side, but only after a controversial Matheus Cunha goal, which featured a clear handball just seconds before the Brazilian scored in front of the Stretford End.
The ball bounced up and clearly hit Bryan Mbeumo on the arm, only for the ball to find itself at Cunha’s feet before he scored. There were muted celebrations with the handball obvious to many, leading to an expectation that the goal would be chalked off.
VAR flagged the issue to referee Michael Salisbury, who was sent to the pitchside monitor, but despite the replays clearly showing the handball the official claimed that it was accidental and chose to stick by his original decision. It left Pereira fuming as he questioned what even constitutes a handball.
The Forest boss told Match of the Day: “The only thing that was a pity for the game in my opinion is that the game was decided by a decision and I don’t agree with it.
“I looked at the iPad to look at the image and I stayed very calm but in the end I think we need to have a meeting together to understand when it’s handball, when it’s a block, when it’s a block in the box. At the moment we don’t know what is possible or not and a lot of the time we don’t understand the decisions. But I must accept it.”
Luke Shaw scored a fifth-minute opener before Morato’s header levelled things. United’s controversial strike put them 2-1 ahead before Mbeumo scored their third. Morgan Gibbs-White scored to make it a nervous finish for the hosts, but they held on.
View 2 ImagesVAR cleared Bryan Mbeumo of handball
Gary Neville was on commentary and claimed the decision was “an absolute shocker in every single way” as VAR made another contentious decision, just a week after the saga involving David Raya in Arsenal’s win over West Ham.
“I think that is an absolute shocker in every single way. It’s ridiculous,” Neville. said on Sky Sports. “The VAR have been quite clear, they said it has been disallowed, he has handballed it and brought the ball back into play.
“I can’t believe what I have just seen to be honest. VAR looked at it for three minutes and then the referee looks at it for another minute. They are overthinking it. They have got themselves into a real mess there.”
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