Nuno Espirito Santo said Nottingham Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis had “obvious frustrations” after a bungled substitution harmed their Champions League hopes in this afternoon’s 2-2 draw with Leicester City.
Marinakis stormed on to the pitch at the final whistle and angrily remonstrated with Forest boss Nuno after Forest failed to beat their already-relegated East Midlands rivals.
The Portuguese explained Marinakis was irritated at the failure to take off Taiwo Awoniyi despite the striker making little impact after colliding with a post.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis went on the pitch at full-time to remonstrate with Nuno Espirito Santo after the 2-2 draw against Leicester 🌳 pic.twitter.com/CdAMHbhTwe
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 11, 2025
Awoniyi confusion to blame – Nuno
Nuno told Sky Sports: “It was due to the situation. There was a confusion over the situation of [Awoniyi]. We made a [different] sub and after that we played with one man less so that frustrates everyone. It’s obvious.
“When a player is down, you get information that he is okay to continue, then we make a sub and it turns out he can’t continue. We are all frustrated with that.
“Football is emotions. It’s difficult to control. Especially when we had such expectations and the fans were incredible.
“Let’s go again, it’s not in our hands but it’s not finished.”
It’s a scandal – Neville
Sky pundit Gary Neville was not impressed by Marinakis’ actions, saying: “I think what the Forest owner has just done over on the pitch at the City Ground is absolutely scandalous.
“If I was Nuno I’d be going to have a very strong word with him because that is a scandal.
“You’ve just qualified for a European competition. Where that club’s been, to be remonstrating [with Nuno] on the pitch in front of the club’s fans is an absolute joke.”
Nuno has performed miracles to get Forest into a situation where Champions League qualification remains a possibility although today’s stalemate makes their task much harder.
They sit seventh with two games to play, although they are just a point behind fifth-placed Chelsea, who they host on the season’s final day.
Buonanotte dents Forest’s hopes
Today’s draw does mean they are guaranteed to play European football next season for the first time in 29 years but that was scant consolation after Facundo Buonanotte’s late equaliser.
Conor Coady opened the scoring for the Foxes before goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood put Forest in goal before Buonanotte levelled with seven minutes to go.
Nuno added: “Today is a tough day for everybody connected to the club.
“First half we conceded a goal but we were dominant. Second half we started better and deserved to get the advantage. Then it was a defensive mistake that allowed Leicester to get back in the game.”
