Premier League issue statement after lengthy VAR call during Forest vs Brighton

Chris Wood scored Nottingham Forest's third goal against Brighton, but it took VAR Paul Tierney an incredibily long time to check and clear it after a tight offside call

The Premier League have issued a statement after it took the VAR Paul Tierney a painfully long time to check and clear Chris Wood's goal against Brighton.

The goal came when Anthony Elanga raced down the right edge of the box and hung up a lovely ball for Wood. The New Zealand international rose highest and nodded superbly down into the bottom-left corner.

There were some concerns that Wood may have been offside when Elanga crossed the ball in. Tierney duly confirmed he was checking it, but it took an astonishing amount of time for him to do so.

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.

"When Anthony Elanga gets into that area, Wood starts peeling towards the back post. He's trying to find out where he's going to get that pocket of space."

The goal was Wood's 15th of the season and put Forest in complete control of their clash with Brighton. The Seagulls fell behind after just 12 minutes.

Danilo played in Morgan Gibbs-White down the right, with the midfielder producing a tantalising low ball. Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk could only turn the ball into his own net to put Forest ahead.

Having assisted one, Gibbs-White then scored his side's second 13 minutes later. Elanga was also the provider, producing a brilliant corner to the near post where Gibbs-White headed in.

Forest's deadly duo of Elanga and Wood were hailed by Peter Crouch for their incredible chemistry. But the former Liverpool star also pointed out that Brighton had created some problems of their own.

"That combination between Elanga and Wood has been so good all season. Elanga's delivery is so good and Wood is on fire at the moment," he told TNT Sports.

"Hinshelwood is getting isolated. As good a player as Joao Pedro is, he's not a midfielder. They don't know whether to stick or twist now because they need goals now. Brighton need to change something."

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