The head coach of Nottingham Forest, Steve Cooper, has suggested that the use of video assistant refereeing be expanded to include instances where a corner kick is improperly given. His statement follows his dissatisfaction with the contentious first goal scored by Manchester United in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against his team.
On Saturday, Forest went down a goal at the City Ground when Casemiro was able to score off of a corner kick. The corner kick was awarded even though Nicolò Savona seemed to have prevented the ball from going out of bounds.
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This marks the second consecutive week that Cooper has voiced his displeasure with crucial officiating choices. Consequently, he is advocating for modifications to the application of VAR. In the previous week’s 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth, Forest surrendered the game’s first goal due to a corner kick that was wrongly awarded.
“For two weeks in a row, which is strange in itself,” Cooper commented during a press conference. “Similar, yet distinct, as one would expect.”
“The one from the previous week [at Bournemouth] was an apparent error, and I received a booking for pointing it out. It makes no sense that I was penalized for what was clearly a mistake.”
“And then today, I simply cannot make sense of it. You are an assistant referee, located 70-odd yards away, with a goal and a net obstructing your line of sight, but you supposedly have a clear view.”
“I have a more favorable vantage point, yet I am not correctly positioned. This cannot be accurate in the present environment.”
According to the existing regulations, VAR is not permitted to step in if a corner kick is granted in place of a goal kick, irrespective of whether it leads to a goal.
“What frustrates me most, even though I am a strong supporter of VAR, is that someone needs to quickly overrule these decisions,” Cooper continued. “That would only take about five seconds.”
“You simply declare ‘the ball is in play,’ yet they proceed to score a goal for two consecutive weeks.”
“Of course, you can argue ‘you must deal with the corner,’ but the problem is that it should not have even occurred, which is really challenging.”
Forest showed good resilience to Casemiro’s goal and surprised the away team after the halftime break. Goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Savona within a five-minute spell put the newly appointed Forest manager, Cooper, within touching distance of his first league victory since assuming the role.
Nevertheless, Amad Diallo managed to secure a point for United with a stunning left-footed volley taken from just outside the penalty box.
Information provided by PA and The Associated Press was incorporated into this piece.
