Nuno Espirito Santo demanded to know ‘why always us?’ as he ranted about Nottingham Forest repeatedly being on the end of refereeing errors following Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Brighton.
Forest boss Nuno bemoaned the standard of Premier League officiating after Seagulls midfielder Jakub Moder escaped with just a booking for a studs-up lunge on Neco Williams.
The Portuguese is fed up of receiving apologies for mistakes made by match officials on the back of a string of high-profile incidents going against his relegation-threatened side.
“It’s a red card,” he said of Moder’s 67th-minute challenge. “It’s a serious mistake.
“We don’t know how the game will end but today in football having an extra player on the pitch makes a big difference.
“We were on top of the game, we were dominant, we were creating problems for Brighton and it’s a bad decision of the VAR. I don’t judge only the referee.
“But I saw the image, it’s a clear red card and how can I continue? It’s week after week we receive them.
“They apologise to us, it doesn’t mean anything because it’s costing us and we are in a tough position.
“What’s going on? Why always us? Why?
“Go and see the shin of Neco Williams. He will not post it (on social media). But I tell you, it’s a red card. It’s so obvious.”
Moder received a yellow card from referee Michael Salisbury, a decision supported by VAR Craig Pawson, who concluded there was no case of serious foul play.
Liverpool last weekend snatched a late 1-0 win at the City Ground after Paul Tierney failed to award a dropped ball to Forest in an attacking area, having stopped play for a head injury to Ibrahima Konate.
Nuno also highlighted being denied penalties in last month’s 2-0 victory over West Ham and 3-2 loss to Newcastle to emphasise his ongoing frustration.
“Everybody is aware of the mistakes,” he said.
“I don’t know how many mistakes we have, it’s a lot. I’m trying to be honest and trying to keep myself calm and be respectful, but I think it’s enough.
“The press say (it’s because) of the result. No, no, no. We won against West Ham, they didn’t give us a penalty, a clear one. Why?
“Why (did) Paul Tierney give the possession to Liverpool? Why against Newcastle we had a penalty they didn’t give us?
“We don’t know how the games are going to finish, all these things, and I say it’s enough. Please someone tell me what’s going on.”
Struggling Forest remain three points above the drop zone following Andrew Omobamidele’s decisive first-half own goal at the Amex Stadium.
Former Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno feels his club are paying a heavy price for a transitional period in refereeing.
“I arrived in England some years ago,” he said. “The referees (were) amazing.
“I understand that suddenly they lost a group of referees (who were) very strong, very experienced.
“And now, new referees, they are coming and they need time and sympathy to become better and judge better.
“But we don’t have time. We are professionals. We don’t have time.”
Brighton bounced back from Europa League embarrassment at the hands of Roma by scraping an unconvincing success.
Seagulls head coach Roberto De Zerbi, whose side trail the Serie A club 4-0 ahead of Thursday’s last-16 second leg, said: “I’m very happy for the reaction.
“But I had not any doubt on the human qualities of my players. We played a good game, especially in the first 35 minutes.
“After our goal, we suffered more but we didn’t concede too many shots.
“And now we have to prepare the game with Roma. We have to play a serious game and then we will see.”
Silva grateful Fulham's dominance was rewarded with late win
Marco Silva believes Fulham claimed a "deserved win" against Brentford, though admits they should have secured the three points much earlier in their 2-1 victory.
It looked like Vitaly Janelt's 24th-minute strike against the run of play was going to wrap up all three points for Brentford, but Harry Wilson proved the Cottagers' hero off the bench, scoring twice in stoppage time to snatch the three points.
Fulham had dominated from the first whistle and had 26 shots, 12 of which were on target, though they struggled to find a way past their opponents' staunch defence until the 92nd minute.
Wilson became just the sixth player to score an equalising and match-winning goal from the 90th minute onwards in the Premier League, while his second goal was Fulham's latest-ever Premier League winner at 96:46.
Silva was delighted with how his team pushed until the final seconds to ensure they came away with a win.
"It was definitely a deserved win. We started on the front foot and dominated all the game. In the first 20 minutes, we had two clear chances to score," Silva told BBC Sport.
"After they scored, we didn't lose the confidence and the trust in ourselves, we kept pushing them back, and we created enough to not be losing at half-time.
"I told the players this is football, it can happen, but we have to keep pushing, working hard and playing our way.
"It was late, it should've been much before, but that's football."
Brentford, meanwhile, have now dropped a league-high 14 points from winning positions in the Premier League as they suffered a fifth consecutive away defeat in the competition.
In fact, they are the first side in the competition's history to score the first goal in four consecutive away games and lose all four.
They had defended resolutely until their late lapse in concentration, and even had a chance to win it, only for Bernd Leno's impressive save to keep out Fabio Carvalho in the 95th minute.
Thomas Frank, though, admitted he was not yet ready to take the positives from the performance after the disappointment of their late defeat.
"It was tough. It is emotionally very tough right now," Frank told Sky Sports.
"When you are leading in the 92nd minute, and you lose, it is tough. I don't think we hit our highest level. I think on the day Fulham were better.
"There was a lot of good defending and effort, and I thought that would have given us the win. We could have won it with the chance for Fabio Carvalho and then we lost.
"When we look at the game back, and we are more cool-headed, we will probably be very happy with the defensive standard. I thought there were unbelievable blocks, and recovery runs and all that we did well. On the ball, we didn't do enough."
Guardiola expecting challenging season for injury-hit Man City
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's current injury problems will make it harder for them to repeat the success of recent years.
Depleted by a number of injuries to key players, the Premier League champions saw a 32-game unbeaten league run ended by a loss at Bournemouth on Saturday after a midweek reverse at Tottenham in the EFL Cup fourth round, marking the first time City have lost successive matches in all competitions since September 2023.
While Guardiola says he is aware of the expectations surrounding his team, he knew they were likely to suffer more defeats due to injuries and the increasing level of their opponents.
"I know our standards, but we've lost just one game. Maybe we are going to lose again in the Premier League against Brighton and against Tottenham and against Liverpool," Guardiola told reporters, referring to their next three Premier League games.
"We are just two points behind Liverpool, who are a top-class team. We've started well in the Champions League, but I know people expect us to win 38 league games and win the treble every season as these are our standards.
"The reason it is difficult is because we have had a lot of absentees, which can happen in some seasons.
"Sometimes, to win the treble, everything has to be on the same page with injuries, but this is not possible this time. The teams are very strong and everything is more difficult, and we have to accept that. That is the challenge."
City will be without Ballon d'Or winner Rodrigo and Oscar Bobb for most of the campaign, while John Stones, Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias remain sidelined and have not travelled to Portugal.
Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker still have problems despite being in the squad, Guardiola said, and Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho are improving, while Erling Haaland is fit.
City sit third in the Champions League standings after two wins and a draw and are looking for a third consecutive European win at Portuguese champions Sporting CP, who are eighth but also have seven points and are unbeaten across all competitions this season.
Guardiola's side claimed a resounding 5-0 win at Sporting when they met in the 2022 Champions League last 16, and are looking to extend their record run of unbeaten games to 27 in the competition.
"They play quite similar like we faced two seasons ago, the pattern is so clear," Guardiola added.
"They have changed players but have the same manager and same mentality," he said, referring to Sporting boss Ruben Amorim, who will take over at Manchester United at the start of the international break.
Fulham 2-1 Brentford: Wilson's late brace seals comeback win
Harry Wilson scored twice in stoppage time as Fulham came back to beat Brentford 2-1 in an enthralling West London derby.
Wilson was the hero from Fulham's bench on Monday, as Marco Silva's team – who were on the wrong end of a late comeback against Everton last time out in the Premier League – salvaged a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Fulham will feel it was a win they earned from a match they dominated from the off, with the Bees having taken the lead against the run of play through Vitaly Janelt's stunning 24th-minute strike.
But the Fulham pressure finally told when Wilson rose high to flick in his first in the 92nd minute, and – after Bernd Leno made a superb stop to thwart Brentford at the other end – the former Liverpool midfielder nodded in again to send Craven Cottage into raptures.
Fulham's win takes them up into ninth, while Brentford drop to 12th after suffering a fifth league loss of the season.
Data Debrief: Super-sub Wilson to the rescue
Fulham will feel they deserved to come away from that match with three points, having had 26 shots, 12 of which were on target, in an incredibly dominant display.
They also had 46 touches in the opposition box compared to Brentford's nine, but they could not make those count, at least until Wilson's late intervention as he finally broke through Brentford's stubborn defence.
The Welshman scored with both of his shots on target, having three attempts overall, with his goals coming from a combined 0.19 expected goals.
The Bees looked sure to get a first away win, and first clean sheet, of the Premier League season until their late lapse in concentration, and they have now dropped 14 points from winning positions in the competition this season, more than any other team.
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