James Maddison was not penalized despite what looked like a “punch” at Ryan Yates during Tottenham’s win over Nottingham Forest. Nuno Espirito Santo, Tottenham’s manager, was outraged after the incident. The match saw an own goal by Murillo and goals by Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro after Chris Wood’s first-half strike for Forest, with Maddison’s involvement stirring controversy.
Some viewers and Forest supporters believed Maddison threw a covert punch at Yates, leading to social media venting. Nuno, in the post-match press conference, argued that Maddison should have been sent off for violent conduct and expressed surprise at VAR’s lack of intervention. Nuno was emphatic that Maddison deserved to be sent off.
Nuno stated, “I saw it, what I see is clear… It’s a red card.” He expressed disappointment at the VAR officials’ decision and mentioned consulting Yates, who confirmed his perspective.
Keane, a pundit, talked about Yates and his tendency to go down easily when touched, while expressing the need to change that. Jamie Redknapp, another pundit, also sided with Maddison over the incident, describing it as insignificant. Tottenham, at the time, had a game in hand over Unai Emery’s team, who drew with Brentford.