By Spy Uganda
The Premier League has confirmed Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler were sent off for “unacceptable” behaviour as their teams drew on the south coast.
A fiery encounter saw the points shared at the Amex Stadium. Chris Wood and Ramon Sosa were on target for visitors Forest, with Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck scoring Brighton’s goals.
However, the game threatened to boil over in the closing stages. Forest playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Joao Pedro, with both managers subsequently seeing red for their reactions.
“The referee issued a second yellow card to Gibbs-White for a reckless challenge on Pedro,” the Premier League Match Centre social media account explained. “Fabian Hürzeler and Nuno EspÃrito Santo were both sent off for their unacceptable technical area behaviour following the incident.”
Both teams went into the match unbeaten, and a win for either would have lifted them into the top four. Forest got their noses in front when Wood scored from the penalty spot, but Brighton led at the break thanks to a Hinshelwood header and Welbeck free-kick.
Forest boss Nuno rang the changes after the break, and two of his substitutes combined for an equaliser. Jota Silva broke free of the Brighton defence and rolled the ball across for Sosa to fire home his first Premier League goal in his second ever appearance in the competition.
Despite going down to 10 men, the visitors could have snatched victory late on. However, Sosa was unable to find Callum Hudson-Odoi after bursting through in the final moments.
“I would have to see the challenge back, I have not seen it,” Forest scorer Wood told Sky Sports. “It is one of those, Morgan has made a rash decision and we have to move on with that.
“The managers will have to come and comment on that, that is what they do. Everyone wants to win and fight in the Premier League and points are hard to come by.”
Brighton coach Andrew Crofts said Joao Pedro “took a nasty hit”. The Brazilian was seen walking gingerly late in the game, having only been on the pitch for a little over 10 minutes when Gibbs-White fouled him.
“The tackle on Joao looked like it wasn’t a great tackle,” Crofts said. “We were upset with it. The reaction is to see what the referee does. I didn’t see it because I was communicating with a player. Next thing I saw the red cards to the managers.”
