WOLVES star Daniel Podence has been accused of spitting in the face of an opponent.
The Portuguese winger, 27, scored a late equaliser to earn his side a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
But there was huge controversy in the bad-tempered City Ground clash as opposition striker Brennan Johnson claimed he had been spat at by the Wolves ace.
VAR was called in, but despite images appearing to show Podence performing the disgusting act, the referee opted not to send him off as he escaped red.
Johnson had fired Forest into the lead shortly before half time in the Premier League clash.
But Podence grabbed his sixth goal of the season to seal a 1-1 draw before the controversial incident in the dying stages.
When asked about the spit afterwards, Johnson said: “I think it’s just high emotion.
“I don’t remember it clearly. I don’t want to talk about it too much.
“I saw a motion come from him but they looked at it and it didn’t happen.”
However, fans were less sympathetic on Twitter.
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One fumed: “I’m pretty sure if I spit in some ones face, I’m being done for assault. How that was not at minimum, a red card I’ll never know.”
Another claimed: “Podence definitely spits in Johnson’s face…. Why wasn’t he sent off?????”
“If Podence did spit which it looked like he did, he deserves a lamping,” wrote another.
Speaking afterwards, Podence did not comment on the incident but said: “I’m very happy with that and a goal today. We had a difficult match in front of us and we got one point in the relegation fight.
“It was very frustrating because we had a lot of the ball but they had the best chances. I was looking at the time and we had a lot of time to win this game.
“I played against Forest last year in the cup and this year the matches have been brutal in terms of decisions, which are very complicated against us and make us feel frustrated. It’s difficult to explain this rivalry.”
