Ashley Young taunts angry Nottingham Forest after VAR decisions benefit him
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Everton star Ashley Young has taken aim at Nottingham Forest in a taunting social media post. The defender was at the centre of three controversial moments when Nuno Espirito Santo’s side travelled to Goodison Park over the weekend.
Everton cruised to a 2-0 victory on Sunday, with Idrissa Gana Gueye and Dwight McNeil both getting on the scoresheet for Sean Dyche’s side. Forest were unhappy with how the match panned out though, releasing a statement shortly after the full-time whistle sounded. The City Ground outfit felt that they should have been awarded three penalties during the match and claimed they would take action against PGMOL as a result.
All three incidents involved Young, who was somewhat fortunate to escape any sort of punishment via VAR. The ex-Manchester United star appeared to kick Giovanni Reyna without touching the ball in the first half, just moments before he appeared to block Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross with his hand from close range. Both claims were waved away by referee Anthony Taylor, as was his crunching challenge on Hudson-Odoi from behind without playing the ball.
Forest have complained about the level of officiating throughout the season, and their claims that the VAR was a ‘Luton fan’ on Sunday has only amplified the issue further. But Young has taken a light-hearted view on the matter. The fullback took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and not-so-subtly fired back at Forest.
He wrote: “Old Skool Tunes For Today” with some winking emojis alongside a screenshot of the song ‘Cry Me a River’ by Justin Timberlake, in an incredibly pointed post which has enhanced his reputation as the pantomime villain at Forest. Young couldn’t help but crack a smile when quizzed on the three incidents during his post-match press conference duties, claiming that the referee was ‘spot on’ not to point to the spot on any occasion and that the Forest players were ‘appealing’ for everything. All eyes are now on PGMOL to see how they respond to the claims from the club, with referee advisor Mike Clattenburg saying his piece on the matter by reinforcing that Forest are continuing to be hard done by when it comes to VAR.
Forest’s statement read: “Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept. We warned PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times.
NFFC will now consider its options.”
