Utrecht vs Nottingham Forest ref watch: Three decisions Irfan Peljto got wrong
Irfan Peljto had several incidents to dissect as Nottingham Forest clashed with Utrecht in the Europa League on Thursday.
Sean Dyche made a handful of changes for the game on 11 December, with the Premier League match against Tottenham on the horizon, but fans will have been buzzing to see the return of Douglas Luiz.
Murillo has also struggled to stay fit, but he was back in the centre of defence, shutting the opponents out before Arnaud Kalimuendo fired ahead in the 52nd minute.
However, with Mike van der Hoorn netting an equaliser in the 73rd minute, the game was anything but simple for the Premier League club, with Igor Jesus popping up with a much-needed winner.
It is fair to say that the referee was fully submerged in the European clash.
Douglas Luiz escapes as Irfan Peljto misses head injury
In the 41st minute, for all of Luiz’s success in the first half, the Brazilian probably should have been punished after making contact with Alonzo Engwanda’s face.
Attempting to escape the midfielder, he left an outstretched hand, which caught his opposition in the face, and Utrecht were crying out for a free-kick.
At the very least, the referee should have stopped play to check for a head injury, and play was only brought back later, with very little worry for the player in pain.
Elliot Anderson unfairly sanctioned
Elliot Anderson has been key for Forest this season, but after just 20 minutes as a second-half substitute, the England international had gone into the referee’s notebook.
While his arm was high on Van der Hoorn, the defender went down inside his own penalty area like a sack of potatoes, conning the referee into dishing out a yellow card.
If the first-half incident involving Luiz was not even a foul, there is no way that Anderson should have been cautioned. Consistency, consistency, consistency.
Igor Jesus booked for celebrating Nottingham Forest winner
It is clear that referees are keen to stamp down on excessive celebrations, and some can be a little too much, but was it really necessary to caution Jesus?
The decision felt more like a case of the fun police being out in force, rather than a caution that needed to be handed out. Nonetheless, the striker won’t regret picking that one up.