Gibbs-White had been booked on the hour mark for fouling Georginio Rutter. The Reds were 2-1 down at that point after Brighton had fought back from Chris Wood’s opener.
Substitute Ramon Sosa equalised with 20 minutes to go, but 13 minutes later the visitors found themselves down to 10 men. Referee Jones initially appeared to indicate Gibbs-White won the ball when he tackled Joao Pedro, but then seemed to change his mind and issued a red card.
Sendings off for Nuno and Hurzeler followed. Nuno’s assistant coach Rui Pedro Silva was booked as the away bench made their feelings clear.
The Reds were left fuming at the decision-making process by the officials. It is understood the club believe what happened went against guidance Premier League teams were given at the start of the season.
With Jones having originally made the shape of a ball with his hands to indicate a clean tackle, Forest believe he was overruled by fourth official Anthony Taylor. Before the 2024/25 campaign kicked off, clubs and coaching staff were told by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) that on-field decisions would be supported in an effort to redress the balance between referee and VAR interventions.
Pundit Keys has addressed the incident in his blog, saying: “Oh dear Rob Jones. What were you thinking? Let’s take the sequence of events, that led to three red cards being shown at Brighton, in order.
