01 October 2023 , 17:10
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Former Premier League striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was left "bemused" after Brentford were not awarded two penalties in their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
The first was a handball shout against Nicolas Dominguez, who went on to score Forest's only goal of the game. Following a Brentford corner, Dominguez and Vitaly Janelt both went up for a header in Forest's penalty area and the ball appeared to make contact with Dominguez's outstretched arm after Janelt won the header.
The VAR decided against awarding Thomas Frank's side a penalty due to the close proximity of Dominguez's arm to the ball when Janelt headed it. And when Sky Sports presenter David Jones explained VAR's reasoning, Hasselbaink laughed before stating: "Of course [his hand] is going to be so close, but you can't jump like that.
"As a footballer, if you jump like that you know you're going to be in trouble if the ball hits your arm. It's unnatural." The second incident saw Yoanne Wissa attempt to steal the ball off Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner after the American misjudged the amount of time he had after receiving a pass back.
As he attempted to clear the ball, he brought down Wissa and Willy Boly was able to get across and cover for his goalkeeper. Hasselbaink felt Brentford should "one hundred million per cent" have had a penalty for the incident, saying: "This is what you want from your striker: to go and close down the goalkeeper, and nick it in front of him. And that's what he does.
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"And then what the goalkeeper does, Turner, he misjudges it and kicks the striker, Wissa. If he doesn't kick him, he can go and score. How that is not a penalty... I'm bemused. This is a penalty. One hundred million per cent, it should be a penalty. No discussion."
Turner himself admitted he was "glad VAR didn't intervene" over the incident. "It was a terrible start for me in the second half in general," he admitted to NBC. "The ball was slow. I wasn't getting it out of my feet and (Wissa) was pressing me really hard.
"I was a little bit worried but I tried to hold back as much as I could, because I knew he was going to win it. I'm glad VAR didn’t intervene because that would have made things go from bad to worse for me. But I'm proud of myself, also because of my response the rest of the game, keeping it a one [goal conceded] and coming for some crosses late to relieve pressure."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank was also furious, telling Sky Sports he felt the handball decision could have gone either way but Turner bringing down Wissa was a "clear penalty". Frank said: " That's a clear one. That's the one (the referee) should have called. Second half, the one with Yoane Wissa, that's a clear penalty.
"I'm just so tired of talking about (VAR). I much more want to talk about football, but I understand we need to do it. I also feel the pain and frustration when it doesn't go your way. I can't affect it, I can't do anything about it. I need to focus on what I can affect."