Ruben Dias: Man City defender should have been sent off against Nottingham Forest, PGMO admit
PGMO officials have accepted Ruben Dias should have received a second yellow card for a second-half foul on Igor Jesus in Manchester City's 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on December 27; Forest have accepted Rayan Cherki's winner was a legitimate goal
Tuesday 6 January 2026 22:40, UK
Ruben Dias should have received a second yellow card and been sent off in Manchester City's Premier League win at Nottingham Forest, the PGMO have admitted.
PGMO officials accepted Dias' challenge on Forest's Igor Jesus, 18 seconds into the second half, was worthy of another yellow card after the Manchester City defender had already been booked in the first half for dissent.
However, the rules state that the VAR cannot intervene in cases of yellow cards, and the referees' body was clear in explaining that it was a subjective call by the on-field referee in City's 2-1 win at the City Ground on December 27.
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Forest complained to the referees' body and requested an explanation after the fixture. Sky Sports News has been told club representatives met with PGMO officials on Monday to analyse the decision not to send City's vice-captain off, and a number of other contentious calls from referee Rob Jones and the other officials in the match.
However, in turn, Forest have accepted City's winner in that match, when Rayan Cherki scored, was a legitimate goal - despite manager Sean Dyche being very animated post-match, saying that the goal should have been ruled out because he felt Morgan Gibbs-White was fouled immediately before Cherki's strike.
Forest officials accepted there was no foul on Gibbs-White in the build-up to City's winner, despite the Reds originally feeling that Nico O'Reilly had pulled his England team-mate to the ground, preventing him from blocking Cherki's shot.
Dyche, and Forest's bosses, felt strongly the result could have been different had Dias been sent off with 45 minutes of the match still remaining.
But Sky Sports News has been told Forest felt the meeting was positive and productive, and privately, the East Midlands club have expressed their appreciation for how engaging and open the match officials have been in dealing with their complaints.
