March 2nd 2024.
In a thrilling match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Liverpool emerged victorious with a 1-0 win thanks to an injury-time goal by Darwin Nunez. However, former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg believes that Liverpool's win was aided by a mistake from referee Paul Tierney.
Nunez's header in the final minutes secured a crucial win for Liverpool, who have now extended their lead at the top of the Premier League by four points. But Forest were left feeling aggrieved as they felt that the winning goal should not have been allowed.
The controversy stems from a moment in the build-up to Nunez's goal when Liverpool were given possession of the ball after Ibrahima Konate went down with a head injury. Forest winger Callum Hudson-Odoi was in possession of the ball at the time, but play was stopped and the ball was given to Liverpool. This decision has caused a lot of frustration for Forest, with owner Evangelos Marinakis confronting referee Tierney after the game and coach Steven Reid receiving a red card for approaching the official on the pitch.
Last month, Marinakis had brought Clattenburg to Forest in an advisory role to analyze the performance of referees. Speaking after the defeat to Liverpool, Clattenburg stated that Tierney had made an error. "The law is quite clear," he said. "The referee is entitled to stop the game if he feels there is a head injury. However, the ball has to go back to the team that has possession. Nottingham Forest clearly had possession and should have had the ball back, which would have changed the course of the game."
Clattenburg also sympathized with Forest's owner, who has invested a lot of money in the club and is understandably upset with the recent string of unfavorable decisions. "The owner is quite upset because they fought hard and he wants to see results. He feels that another decision has gone against the club, and rightly so. Everyone is upset and saddened by this loss. Hopefully, things will turn around in the future."
On the other hand, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp downplayed the incident and pointed out that a similar situation had occurred in the first half, but in reverse. "It happened exactly the same in the first half, didn't it? It was exactly the same, just the other way around, right?" said Klopp. "I expected it to happen like that because it happened in the first half. If it hadn't happened in the first half, I would have asked a question too. But now I assume that's the rule."
Klopp went on to explain that he didn't understand why there was so much discussion about the incident, as it had happened twice and was handled the same both times. "I don't really see the reason for the discussions because that's it. I don't know how many passes we had to play to arrive there and score the goal. But I completely understand the excitement and anger from Nottingham. They fight for everything, and I get it. But I think that the same situation occurring twice shows consistency."
In the end, Liverpool claimed a hard-fought victory over Nottingham Forest, but the controversy surrounding the winning goal has left a bitter taste for the Forest team and their fans. Only time will tell if their luck will change in the future.
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