Solanke hat-trick seals Bournemouth win after Forest red card controversy

If anyone was in doubt, this match provided compelling evidence that there are simply too many flaws in the ever-evolving laws of the game. Nottingham Forest made a formal complaint about the referee, Rob Jones, after a contentious defeat at Manchester United earlier this season and his decision to give Willy Boly a second yellow card for a tackle on Adam Smith 24 minutes into this contest, despite cleanly winning the ball, left Forest dumbfounded, wiping PGMOL off the Christmas card list. VAR, as per the rules, was powerless to intervene. One can only wonder what the officials back at Stockley Park must have been thinking.

Forest will point to that decision, leaving them to play with 10 men for more than 70 minutes, as a major factor in a crushing defeat at home to Bournemouth. It seemed as though Forest had successfully rallied to earn a point but Dominic Solanke completed his hat-trick deep in second-half stoppage time, looping a header from Smith’s cross into the far corner, to leave Nuno Espírito Santo sick. Only Erling Haaland has scored more top-flight goals than Solanke this season. Has Nuno, who last managed in Saudi Arabia, really missed the Premier League?

At least the sense of injustice gave Forest something of a siege mentality. The first half was overshadowed by Boly’s sending off and the decision to let Smith off the hook despite appearing to handball in the box minutes later. Harry Toffolo’s cross struck Smith’s left arm but despite both of the Bournemouth defender’s feet being inside the box, VAR felt it inconclusive whether Smith’s left arm was inside the area. As with Newcastle’s winner against Arsenal in November, which prompted Mikel Arteta’s attack on refereeing standards, it is unlikely to end here.

The 51 or so first-half minutes were in effect a write-off and by the time Jones and his assistants, Wade Smith and Mat Wilkes, headed down the tunnel, flanked by police and stewards, it was hard to recall anything beyond those controversies. The game descended into a spiky affair, four v three, and that was just in the technical areas. Privately, Jones’s call to hand Boly a second yellow card, and therefore make it impossible for the decision to be overturned, is the kind of decision that would leave officials squirming. There remain too many holes in the rulebook. Jones felt the wrath of fans but, in a different world, he could have been helped.

Anthony Elanga gave Forest the lead two minutes into the second half with a cool first-time finish after being released by Chris Wood, who dispossessed the Bournemouth substitute Alex Scott. But the visitors hit back through Solanke four minutes later, the in-form striker beating Murillo in the air and sending a header spinning over Matt Turner in the Forest goal.

Neco Williams made a magnificent block to prevent Antoine Semenyo nudging Bournemouth in front but the visitors regained the lead soon after, Solanke slotting in after Forest failed to clear a corner. Forest were not dead, however, and Wood headed in at a Forest corner, via a Dango Ouattara deflection, to ensure a grandstand finish. Solanke again came to the fore, looping in another header.