Nottingham Forest 1-1 Brentford: Nicolas Dominguez rescues a point for the hosts

Amid the many storylines that ran through this match, VAR stood above them all yet again.

The video technology is there to eliminate controversy yet it has simply increased it, with this time Brentford feeling they had a raw deal.

On another day, the Bees might have had two penalties. One in first-half stoppage time when the ball clipped Forest midfielder Nicolas Dominguez’s hand as he jumped with arms outstretched, and a second soon after the break for a challenge by goalkeeper Matt Turner on Yoane Wissa. Dominguez was not punished because his hand was deemed to be close enough to his body when he leapt, while Turner’s lunge at Wissa was checked and cleared.

Though both were close calls, any manager on the wrong end of them will be grumpy. The controversy at Tottenham on Saturday, when Liverpool were denied a goal even though Luis Diaz was onside when he scored, meant Darren England was replaced by Michael Oliver in the VAR chair. It is important to say that there was no howler here, yet it is far from easy to work out which decisions deserve to be reversed and which do not.

Forest have complained bitterly about officials this term yet even though they were reduced to 10 men when Moussa Niakhate was given a second booking early in the second half, they had the rub of the green here. Christian Norgaard put the Bees in front seconds after the red card, only for Dominguez to equalise with his first goal for Forest.

With Steve Cooper searching for only his second win in 10 matches against Brentford boss Thomas Frank, the Forest boss surprisingly left Morgan Gibbs-White on the bench and moved record signing Ibrahim Sangare further forward.

With Anthony Elanga on one side and Callum Hudson-Odoi on the other, Forest’s plan was clear: use the speed of their wingers to unlock Brentford. And when Aaron Hickey was booked in the second minute for dragging back Elanga, the signs were promising for the home side.

Forest thought they had taken the lead when Brazilian defender Murillo – making his Forest debut after joining from Corinthians in August – flicked on Hudson-Odoi’s corner and Taiwo Awoniyi steered the ball in at the far post. But the Nigerian forward had moved too early and was rightly given offside.

Murillo showed why Forest spent nearly £14million on him when he made a crucial challenge on Keane Lewis-Potter. With Brentford sitting deep and Forest playing too slowly, the game was struggling to catch light.

Brentford were threatening only from set pieces yet they had the clearest chance of the half in stoppage time. Mathias Jensen picked out Vitaly Janelt’s untracked run and when the midfielder’s strike clipped Serge Aurier and was palmed by Matt Turner back into the danger zone, Sangare made a crucial intervention to stop Christian Norgaard turning it home.

Then Brentford were convinced they should have had a penalty. Nicolas Dominguez jumped to head clear yet when the ball clipped his hand, nothing was awarded. And when the ball when loose, it touched Willy Boly’s hand too.

Boly kept Forest level in the opening minutes of the second half. The dawdling Turner was robbed by Yoane Wissa only for the forward to lose his footing under Turner’s, allowing Boly to race back and clear. Again, Brentford would have been surprised the incident did not merit even a second look.

Forest had got away with one – but they could not make the most of it.

Niakhate had already been booked in the first half for a foolish challenge on Jensen so when he ran his studs down the back of Wissa’s calf, the second yellow card was inevitable. More pain was the come for the home side as from the free-kick, Norgaard slipped in unmarked to head home Jensen’s free-kick.

Down to 10 men, Forest suddenly found a spark. Gibbs-White and Harry Toffolo had replaced Elanga and Hudson-Odoi – both ineffective – and the pair combined for the equaliser. Gibbs-White played the ball wide for Toffolo and Dominguez met the full-back’s cross with a header that looped over Mark Flekken, who seemed to misjudge the flight of the ball.

Having helped bring his side level, Toffolo then kept it that way with a super block to stop fellow sub Neal Maupay’s fierce volley at source. Then Gibbs-White ran virtually the length of the field to slide in on Bryan Mbeumo and stop him finishing a rapid counter-attack.

With 13 minutes’ stoppage time signalled, both sides went close. Sub Chris Wood headed wide when unmarked, before Michael Olakigbe – another sub – saw his shot beat Turner only for Murillo to clear off the line. Seconds later. Norgaard’s dipping effort from 20 yards just cleared the bar and at the other end Boly failed to make solid contact with Gibbs-White’s free-kick.