Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Nottingham Forest were on the wrong side of the result against Tottenham, but says the officials got one major decision right.
Neco Williams appeared to put Nottingham Forest ahead at the City Ground on Saturday, bundling the ball into the net after Morgan Gibbs-White’s effort had come off Antonin Kinsky. Craig Pawson initially gave the goal, only for VAR to intervene and rule it out for handball.
The game finished 0-0, leaving Forest frustrated.
Gallagher backs disallowed Neco Williams goal
Williams was adamant afterwards that the ball had not touched his hand.
“It’s a goal. I headed it in between my arms. I knew straight away I’ve headed it down in between my arms. At a loss at that one. Disappointing,” Neco Williams said after the game.
Gallagher has now offered the opposite view.
Speaking on Ref Watch, he said the newly released footage has convinced him the VAR decision was correct.
“We know they got it right because we’ve seen subsequent evidence,” Gallagher said.
The former referee also explained why he believes the VAR team spent so long examining the incident.
“They looked at it long enough. They studied it and studied it, and in the end they came to the conclusion that he handled it.”
Gallagher’s view is that the longer the officials reviewed the footage, the more certain they became about what had happened.
“The more they looked at it, the more they were going to be convinced he had handled it because if he hadn’t, they’d have cleared it very quickly.”
