Everton: Tony Bellew tears into ‘pathetic’ Nottingham Forest after ‘nonsense’ development

Tony Bellew has taken aim at Nottingham Forest live on talkSPORT following their “pathetic” statement after their defeat to Everton.

Nuno Espirito’s side were beaten 2-0 by the Toffees on Sunday (21 April) but were left aggrieved after they had three penalty appeals waved away, quickly taking to social media to slam VAR Stuart Atwell for his decision-making.

Forest claimed that they had alerted the PGMOL that Atwell was a Luton Town supporter and therefore could be biased, but former Boxer and Everton fan Bellew has labelled those claims “nonsense”.

Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday (22 April, 17:45) he said: “Over the grand scheme of things, does anybody really believe Nottingham Forest deserved to win the game because I certainly didn’t.

“It’s absolutely pathetic, if we’re going down the Luton path and who he supporters, he would have actually wanted Forest to win yesterday, so it drags us more into it. He wants Forest to beat us, then they beat us and it drags us right into the nonsense, into the dog-doo.

“I’m not all for this, he was a Luton fan and all this. Absolutely nonsense, get a grip. You are crying over spilt milk.”

Everton take huge step away from Premier League relegation with controversial win over Nottingham Forest

Bellew has hit the nail on the head with his assessment of Sunday’s controversy. While Atwell and the other officials got several decisions wrong at Goodison Park, the suggestion of some sort of bias is nothing short of “nonsense”. Over the course of the game, Sean Dyche’s side were the only team who ever looked like winning the game. They created all the chances, barring one excellent save from Jordan Pickford, and deserved their three points.

Had one of those penalty calls gone the away side’s way, it could have changed the game. However, the Toffees made use of their luck to claim all three points and take a massive step towards Premier League safety.

Hopefully, Everton’s luck will continue between now and the end of the season. If the referees keep helping them out with some slightly dodgy decisions, they’ll be playing Premier League football next term.