Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper felt it was another bad day for the Professional Game Match Officials Limited after some controversial decisions in his side’s 1-1 draw with Brentford.
The PGMOL were forced to stand intended fourth official Darren England down at the City Ground after his mistake on Saturday night when, as VAR in Tottenham’s game against Liverpool, he failed to act properly in overturning the decision to rule out Luis Diaz’s goal for offside.
And both managers were left complaining after the draw as Nicolas Dominguez’s header cancelled out Christian Norgaard’s opener, which came immediately after Moussa Niakhate was sent off.
That is the decision that irked Cooper the most, the boss insisting that his defender’s tackle, where he raked his studs down Yoane Wissa’s calf, was accidental.
Cooper said: “Honestly, if he doesn’t give him a second yellow, nobody mentions it. All of your colleagues on TV and radio have said the same.
“With it being the only Premier League game of the day, the PGMOL needed a real clean day and unfortunately they have got the opposite. We want to help referees, we will moan and complain as much as anyone else, it is just the nature of it.
“We’ll try and do it respectfully, but sometimes it’s hard. They have got to help themselves. I’m annoyed with the first yellow, he shouldn’t have lunged in. The second yellow would not even have been mentioned…of course it was accidental.
“You need football understanding to see that. It’s a contact game.
“Some have gone for us, so I’m not sitting here saying we’re hard done by. We all want refereeing to be at the right level and we all want to help them and they have to help themselves. The last thing they needed today was talking points about decision-making, but that’s what they’ve got.
“Come on, let’s work together and we will help. Some things have gone in our favour, not as much as have gone against us. This league is amazing and every part of it needs to be at that level.”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank says he is “tired” of talking about VAR after he thought his side were denied a clear penalty.
Frank believes Wissa was fouled by Matt Turner early in the second half when he closed down the Forest goalkeeper and was caught by Turner’s follow through, while Brentford also had two penalty appeals turned down.
Referee Paul Tierney did not give anything and the incident was not even checked by VAR Michael Oliver.
“I am tired of talking about it, I understand you guys need to ask the question,” he said.
“I just want to talk about performances.
“I think the two handball situations, some managers would claim them as penalty, I won’t. I think I would really hate that if they were given against my team.
“But the Wissa one is a clear penalty, you can’t go through the man, that is an unfortunate mistake from VAR, especially when that is clear and obvious.
“Unfortunately our players are too honest, we need to be a little bit more nasty, I would never say that to the players, I like honest players.”
Frank praises Brentford's pressing, sees no tactical revamp with Toney departure
Thomas Frank heaped praise on Brentford's pressing following their 3-1 victory over Southampton on Saturday.
Bryan Mbeumo scored twice from Brentford's forwards forcing the Southampton backline into errors as the Bees earned their second Premier League win of the season.
This did not go unnoticed by Frank, who believes his side rank as one of the best in the league when it comes to that specific aspect.
He told BBC Sport: "They made errors because we pressed them unbelievably well. I think we are one of the best teams to do the high pressure in the Premier League.
"The players are so committed and that is the reason why we capitalised on errors from Southampton.”
Despite the departure of Ivan Toney to Al-Ahli, Frank does not think their style of play will have to be restructured too much, with both Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa enjoying productive starts to the season in his absence.
Frank said: “Ivan is a fantastic player, I'd love to have him in the team but he has his own journey and is going elsewhere.
"Our style of play hasn't changed. Wissa and Ivan are different players but the style doesn't change.”
Southampton boss Russell Martin was frustrated with his side’s mistakes at crucial moments, believing their performance was far better than the scoreline suggested.
He said to the BBC: “We made two mistakes that we were punished for, which is frustrating and disappointing.
"I saw lots of good things to feel positive about. I feel a lot better this week than I did after the Nottingham Forest game.”
Guardiola has 'no words' for hat-trick hero Haaland
Pep Guardiola was lost for words to describe Erling Haaland after his eighth Premier League hat-trick fired Manchester City to a 3-1 victory over West Ham.
Having scored a treble to help City claim a 4-1 win over Ipswich Town on matchday two, Haaland did likewise on Saturday to keep them perfect as they edged out the Hammers at the London Stadium.
Haaland's seven goals this season are the most any player has ever netted in the first three matches of a Premier League campaign, while only Sergio Aguero (12), Alan Shearer (11) and Robbie Fowler (nine) have ever helped themselves to more match balls in the competition.
Across English football's top four tiers, he is also the first player to score two hat-tricks in a team's first three games of a league season since Bradford City's Paul Jewell in 1994-95.
The Norwegian has now scored more than once in 26% of his Premier League matches (18/69, eight hat-tricks, 10 braces), leaving Guardiola in disbelief.
"There are no words for him," Guardiola told BBC Sport.
"All we can do is make him play better and better and give him as many balls as possible into the box. It's what we have to do. We are there and we added quality.
"This is a team. When you have to run backward, no one asks who has to do it. Everyone has to. When we see Erling doing that, it is fantastic."
Haaland himself, meanwhile, believes having an extended pre-season due to Norway missing out on Euro 2024 has helped him start the season in peak condition.
"I feel good. I feel energised. I had a long vacation and a long pre-season. I'm feeling good," Haaland told City's website.
"The years here have gone quick and it's been going like, 'bam bam bam', now I have a little bit of rest in my body and my feet. I feel really good now and I'm ready for more.
"I feel more refreshed and more energised. So when you do that you can practice on things you want to become better at in training. I feel good. I want to become better. I'm happy."
City sit top of the early-season table with nine points from nine available and saw last season's runners-up Arsenal slip up on Saturday, drawing 1-1 with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Haaland, though, feels it is too early to think about the title race, adding: "They [City's rivals] haven't slipped up yet. Three games, nine points. This is a great start.
"But let's not think too far ahead, because there’s potentially 70 games left this season. Let's breathe a bit and take it game by game."
Lopetegui rues missed opportunity as West Ham lose to Man City
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui was not encouraged by the performance of his team despite losing 3-1 at home to Manchester City in their third league game.
“It is true that City is one of the best teams around the world for sure… but it is also true too that in the second half we have been very close to a draw,” he said speaking to BBC Match of the Day.
“I think we have played one very good second half. The start has been very good for us too.”
West Ham threatened for extended periods of the match and had chances to level the match at 2-1 down, with the best coming from Mohammed Kudus as he smashed a shot against the bar in the second half.
They also started the game brightly before going a goal down inside 10 minutes.
“In my mind we started very well, being aggressive,” said Lopetegui.
“We know in this plan normally they have initiative, it’s very difficult to not concede initiative then. That’s why you have to do a lot of very good things to overcome them.
“In the second half we had chances, I think we kept the ball much more, much more, and didn't concede a lot of chances."
But the hosts were ultimately undone by the brilliant finishing of Erling Haaland, who scored his second hat-trick in as many matches.
“He is one of the best players in the world, that's why he plays for Manchester City,” he said.
“You have to compete with these kind of players. City has the power and the quality to create chances.”
But ultimately, he was left frustrated at the sense of a missed opportunity and that his team were unable to earn themselves a draw that hadn’t seemed implausible during the match.
“Today I think the first goal was a pity for us but I’ve said it. I was happy with the performance think we were able to draw but again they damage us,” he said.
“Against this kind of team, if you make a mistake they don’t forgive. This is the difference they have… A little mistake they punish you, they punish us.
“We have to improve, to know to compete against this kind of team to be close to perfection.
“Don't make mistakes, be calm, defend well… we have quality players too.”
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