Referee chiefs’ Howard Webb ‘will admit Nottingham Forest SHOULD have had a penalty in Everton defeat’… but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side ‘still face FOUR FA charges’ for publicly blasting officials

Howard Webb, the head of Premier League refereeing, will admit Nottingham Forest should have had a penalty in their controversial defeat by Everton earlier this month, according to a new report.

The visitors to Goodison Park felt aggrieved that they did not get a single spot-kick in the league game, claiming they had three clear cases for a penalty to be awarded in their favour, all centring around Toffees defender Ashley Young.

They made a post on X (formerly Twitter) slamming the decision-making of referee Anthony Taylor and his team immediately after the match.

Later, Nottingham Forest representative Mark Clattenburg, a former referee, added his own opinions to the matter in an opinion piece for Mail Sport.  

The Sun report that Webb will admit Nottingham Forest should have had one penalty at Everton – but also that the club could face four FA charges for their responses.

Ashley Young’s challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi from behind should have been reviewed

The club are set to face four FA charges in relation to their comments after the game finished 

The club, manager Nuno Espirito Santo, defender Neco Williams and ‘referee analyst’ Clattenburg are set to receive FA charges, with the Premier League considering whether to charge Nottingham Forest for not acting ‘with the utmost good faith’ in relation to the match and the aftermath. 

Forest’s inflammatory social media post claimed that VAR official Stuart Attwell is a Luton Town fan, and that swayed his decision not to get these penalty calls reconsidered.

The Premier League’s Key Match Incident panel has decided the third incident, in which Taylor deemed Young had played the ball before making contact with Callum Hudson-Odoi was ‘a foul’, and that it should have been reviewed on the monitor at the side of the pitch. 

However, the panel have decided that two prior decisions – one related to a handball, and another related to a different challenge earlier in the game – were correct.  

The panel consists of former players, managers and referees who study every VAR decision to improve future performance. 

Webb will publicly accept that an error was made on the latest monthly edition of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, filmed on Monday night and broadcast on Tuesday. 

Mail Sport previously reported that Webb was set for peace talks with Nottingham Forest’s owners, by playing them the VAR audio of their three penalty appeals.

PGMOL’s protocol is to make VAR audio available to any club that requests it, which Forest did publicly in the days following the 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park. 

Young (left) was at the centre of several penalty shouts from Forest, with none given

Everton full-back Young got in a tangle while stopping Hudson-Odoi’s shot inside the box

Referee Anthony Taylor (left) and VAR official Stuart Attwell (right) came under criticism after the match 

Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo is set to be charged for his comments

Mark Clattenburg, a referee consultant for Forest, faces the prospect of official charges too

Nottingham Forest followed up their 2-0 defeat to Everton with the same scoreline in their loss to Manchester City on Sunday.

They have games against Sheffield United, Chelsea and Burnley as they look to avoid relegation from the Premier League, sitting one point clear of Luton in 18th and two clear of the Clarets in 19th.