Nottingham Forest write to Premier League and PGMOL over Ivan Toney free-kick

Nottingham Forest have asked for an explanation from the Premier League and referees’ body PGMOL over Ivan Toney’s controversial free-kick that helped Brentford to a 3-2 win in west London on Saturday.

Toney moved the referee’s vanishing foam and shifted the ball to a more advantageous position before scoring from the set-piece, leading to complaints from Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo after the game.

Forest want clarification on whether players are allowed to move the ball in such a manner prior to a set-piece and, if not, why VAR officials were not able to intervene.

Nuno rejected Toney’s claim after the game and added: “The law is clear – every situation that leads to a goal must be checked. It’s not even a matter of inches, it’s almost a yard.”

Toney’s goal was his first since his return from an eight-month gambling ban and helped Thomas Frank’s men leapfrog their opponents in the Premier League table.