Premier League issue statement after painfully long VAR call during Forest vs Brighton

After it took an excruciatingly long time for VAR Paul Tierney to assess and clear Chris Wood’s goal against Brighton, the Premier League released a statement.

When Anthony Elanga sprinted down the right side of the box and hung up a beautiful ball for Wood, the goal was scored. Rising to the top, the New Zealander gave a brilliant nudge into the bottom-left corner.

When Elanga crossed the ball in, there were some worries that Wood might have been offside. Tierney duly acknowledged that he was verifying it, but it took him an incredible amount of time.

Eventually an angle was found proving Wood was onside and Tierney directed referee Simon Hooper to award the goal. The Premier League then issued a statement on the incident, which read: “The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Wood in an onside position.”

While the call was tight, Wood was hailed for his movement in the build-up to the goal. Former Forest star Andy Reid told BBC Sport: “Chris Wood’s anticipation is brilliant.