Manchester City were not awarded a spot kick against Nottingham Forest when Erling Haaland hit the deck inside the penalty area and Jay Boothroyd has revealed whether he thinks the referee made the correct decision.
Controversy rocked the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, as Manchester City were denied a penalty kick after a potential foul on Erling Haaland.
The Man City striker appeared to be brought down by Matz Sels inside the box, but VAR decided not to send Darren England his the pitchside monitor.
This decision ultimately went on to hurt City, as two points were dropped following Elliot Anderson’s 76th minute equaliser.
Jay Boothroyd thinks Man City should have been given a penalty
Bernardo Silva claimed Man City should have had a penalty for a foul on Haaland and ex-Premier League star Jay Boothroyd agrees with the club captain.
According to Boothroyd, even the Forest goalkeeper’s reaction showed that a penalty should clearly have been awarded.
"It's 100% a penalty, even the keeper knows!" 👀
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 5, 2026
Jay Bothroyd was left bemused that Manchester City were not awarded a penalty in their 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest following a coming together between Erling Haaland and Matz Sels 💬 pic.twitter.com/NSTS0itLzS
He told Sky Sports Ref Watch: “That’s 100 per cent a penalty. I’m not understanding why they haven’t given that. Like Dermot said, he’s knocked the ball around the keeper, I think the keeper even knows. When you look at the keeper’s face, he’s like, he knows.
“I think Haaland is even thinking, I’m definitely getting a penalty here. He’s come out. He’s taking me out. I don’t understand what they’ve seen. Look at this one here as well. Like you can see, he’s clearly hit Haaland and he’s got up as if to say, he doesn’t get up and says I didn’t touch him. He knows.”
Boothroyd added: “When you see that last one, you see him holding his head, like if his head hits Haaland, he’s still taking him out. So he’s hit him, he’s touched him. Should be a penalty.”
Man City could have been in a great position to win the game
If the referee had ruled in Man City’s favour, they would have had the opportunity to take a 3-1 lead, just minutes before Elliot Anderson scored his goal.
Therefore, it is highly likely that the hosts would have gone on to take all three points, provided the penalty was scored.
Unfortunately, there is no rewind button to be pressed and Man City now trail Arsenal by seven points in the Premier League table.
