Premier League

Nottingham Forest: Steve Cook lucky to avoid red card for last-man foul

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Image for Nottingham Forest: Steve Cook lucky to avoid red card for last-man foul

It appears as though referee Jarred Gillett and the officials may have made a key error in the most recent Nottingham Forest match.

In their Friday night Premier League fixture, Steve Cooper’s men hosted Fulham but were unable to claim all three points on the night as they fell to a 3-2 defeat.

Despite having taken the lead through Taiwo Awoniyi, three goals in six minutes for the visitors was enough to decide the game, although Lewis O’Brien made for a nervy end with his effort that ended up as little more than a consolation.

And even though Forest ended up losing, things could have been a whole lot more complicated. Indeed, in the first half – when the home side were still 1-0 up – Fulham’s Willian raced through on goal only to be fouled by Steve Cook.

It looked as though the Brazilian was through on goal, as shown in these images, and so when he was clearly tugged back it could have been viewed as the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity and a red card. However, Gillet opted to hand out just a yellow card.

TIF thoughts on the foul and Nottingham Forest…

Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time Cook has been lucky to end a Forest game without revealing his marching orders following a controversial incident.

Indeed, against Tottenham Hotspur back in August, he somehow avoided a red card for a ‘blatant handball’ to deny Harry Kane from scoring, even though the foul was noted and a penalty was given.

In the end, the decision that went against Fulham in this most recent game didn’t stop the Cottagers from claiming all three points. But the scoreline could have been much worse for Forest had Cook been sent. On top of that, the following suspension would naturally have also meant losing the centre-back for future games too.

Do you think Steve Cook was lucky not to get a red card?

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