Nuno Espirito Santo says one Spurs player should have been sent off against Forest

Nuno Espirito Santo has said that James Maddison should have been punished for punching Ryan Yates in the stomach during Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

The incident occurred in the final minute of the first half, which proved a frustrating affair for the home side, with the score poised at 1-1 at the time. Yates went down and immediately signalled to the referee that VAR should take a look at the incident.

The replays showed that the Forest midfielder had shoved Maddison while the Tottenham man retaliated with a hand in the midriff, following which Yates took a tumble to the ground.

Should James Maddison have been sent off?

VAR did not see enough evidence to intervene and reprimand the Tottenham midfielder but Nuno insisted that the England international clearly punched his player in the stomach.

The former Spurs boss remarked that VAR should have asked the onfield referee to have a second look at the incident so that he could make up his own mind.

Nuno said (via The Daily Mail): “It doesn’t look he punched him – he punched him. I saw the image. I was surprised that VAR didn’t tell Simon to review it better because honestly, with all my respect, Maddison loses his composure and it’s a punch in the stomach of Yates.

“It should have been reviewed and [led to] a different decision, not to chat with the players and it looks like nothing happens. We did not see it the same way. We didn’t agree, me and VAR. It’s clear for me, I think it’s a red card. I’m surprised Simon solved it with a nice chat.”

Spurs Web Opinion

There was not much in that incident and Yates did go down very easily. I feel VAR made the right decision to ignore it. However, on another day, a different official in the VAR room might have made a different decision. It was quite stupid from Maddison, who could have ended up costing his side dearly.

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