Nottingham Forest aggrieved by VAR as Raúl Jiménez penalty earns Fulham win

Raúl Jiménez's disputed penalty secured a close victory for Fulham and ended Nottingham Forest's unbeaten run in the Premier League. The Mexican striker scored his 50th goal in the Premier League following an extensive review by the video assistant referee.

Nuno Espírito Santo, the manager of Forest, expressed, “We all desire harmony and hope to keep things on the right track, so we don't want to discuss the referees. But it was pretty rough, wasn’t it?” Nuno managed to stay on the sidelines for this game, despite being shown a red card for expressing his discontent over Morgan Gibbs-White's ejection during last week’s 2-2 tie with Brighton.

Forest had secured two victories and three draws in their last five games, but despite their largest attendance in over ten years—30,139 spectators—they were unable to achieve their first home league victory since April. The fans felt disappointed as another decision by the video assistant referee went against them, and Fulham, who have not lost in their last five league matches, managed to get the better of them.

Two of the Premier League's hottest teams struggled to create excitement during a rather dull first half. Taiwo Awoniyi, who was starting in the league for the first time this season, created the first significant opportunity of the match. His acrobatic overhead kick, following Elliot Anderson’s flick-on from close range, sailed past Bernd Leno's right post.

Supporters of Forest believed Chris Wood had scored to put them ahead shortly after, as he tapped in a header from Nikola Milenkovic in the 25th minute. However, VAR reviewed the play and determined that the striker was offside.

Up until that moment, Fulham had controlled the ball well and managed it neatly. However, it was only two minutes later that Jiménez finally registered their first shot on goal with a low attempt from a turn. During halftime, Awoniyi was substituted for Anthony Elanga, and just after the match resumed, things heated up when Fulham received a controversial penalty.

Andreas Pereira fell after being challenged by Murillo, and after reviewing the situation on the monitor by the field, referee Josh Smith awarded a penalty. Jiménez scored his third league goal of the season in the 51st minute, despite the home crowd's loud boos.

Nuno made changes to his team by bringing in Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jota Silva to replace Anderson and Nico Domínguez. The home fans expressed their frustration when another VAR review didn't go their way. Elanga fell after a challenge from Calvin Bassey, but it seemed like there had been no contact.

Hudson-Odoi made a move inward to shoot over the crossbar and was a key figure as Forest sought to level the score. Jota took a solid shot on the volley that was comfortably saved by Leno, while Ryan Yates's attempt from close range hit one of his own teammates instead.

During eight minutes of stoppage time, Forest relentlessly attacked the Fulham goal, but the away team held strong to secure their first win on the road this season.

Marco Silva believed his team earned the win. “This is a valuable three points for us after a tough match. It was as close as we anticipated. When we needed to maintain our structure and demonstrate our resilience in the closing moments, we did just that right from the start. The truth is, Nottingham didn’t create a single opportunity throughout the match. We were in control for the majority of the game and managed the ball well.”