Sean Dyche fumes at Man City winner as Nottingham Forest boss delivers scathing VAR rant

Manchester City midfielder Rayan Cherki grabbed the decisive goal as Pep Guardiola’s side edged past Nottingham Forest 2–1, but the result was overshadowed by controversy over the winning strike.

Forest boss Sean Dyche was furious after VAR dismissed claims of a foul in the build-up to Cherki’s late winner. The first half offered little excitement, but the match burst into life shortly after the restart when Tijjani Reijnders put City ahead just three minutes into the second half.

Forest responded quickly, levelling the score eight minutes later through Omari Hutchinson after a swift counter-attack set up by Igor Jesus. From that point on, both teams pushed hard for a winner, with City eventually finding the breakthrough.

Phil Foden delivered a deep corner which Josko Gvardiol headed back into the danger area, allowing Cherki to fire home and seal all three points for the champions. However, controversy followed as VAR reviewed a possible foul by Nico O’Reilly on Morgan Gibbs-White in the build-up. The Forest midfielder had only just regained his footing and was unable to block Cherki’s shot, which beat goalkeeper John Victor.

Despite protests from the home side, officials ruled there was no infringement. Speaking after the match, Dyche made his frustration clear.

“We’ve all seen it back. It’s frustrating when you play that well and end up talking about officials, but they clearly affected the game,” he said. “It was such an easy decision for VAR in my opinion. I don’t understand how they get that wrong.”

He added: “Morgan Gibbs-White is clearly pushed to the floor. He’s the same player who should be blocking the shot, but he can’t because he’s been knocked over. However you look at it, it’s a foul — and then they go and score from it. That’s the double whammy.”