Former referee Dermot Gallagher insists new footage shows the “right” call was made over Nottingham Forest’s disallowed goal against Tottenham Hotspur.
Neco Williams thought he had put the Reds in front in the second half of Saturday’s Premier League clash at the City Ground. The Welshman bundled the ball into the net after a Morgan Gibbs-White effort had spun off Antonin Kinsky and Spurs had made a mess of clearing it.
Referee Craig Pawson initially signalled it was a goal but following a VAR check it was ruled out for handball. The controversial decision proved to be a big moment in the 0-0 draw and Forest were left furious at the outcome.
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Sky Sports have obtained additional footage of the incident, which they say is from a tactical camera and was not available to VAR at the time the decision was made. Discussing the disallowed goal on Ref Watch, Gallagher says the officials made the correct call.
“We know they got it right because we've seen subsequent evidence,” he said in reference to the newly-released footage. "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.
"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."
Explaining the decision, the Premier League Match Centre account on X had said on Saturday: “VAR checked the referee’s call of goal to Nottingham Forest – and determined that Williams handled the ball immediately before scoring and recommended that the goal was disallowed. REF: ‘After review, the ball touches the hand of Nottingham Forest No.3 before the goal is scored. The final decision is a direct free-kick for Spurs’.”
Speaking post-match, Williams insisted the ball did not touch his arm. Reds head coach Oliver Glasner said the decision was tantamount to guesswork by the officials.
Pundit Jay Bothroyd added on Ref Watch: “When I saw that straight away (before the new footage), I thought it was inconclusive. You can't tell from that view. I was looking at the right elbow more, and now that I have seen it, I can see the left hand, but initially it wasn't conclusive to me. There (looking at new footage), I'm saying yes, he's handled that."
Tim Sherwood added: “I'm the same as Jay. I didn't think there was any clear evidence (at the time) to suggest it was handball. It was a great decision on the basis of this (new footage), but they never saw that, so what they were looking at there wasn't enough evidence."
Williams said after the match: “I headed it in between my arms. If you're going to pause it, it's going to look like it hit my arm but it didn't hit my arm. VAR is there to intervene with clear and obvious errors and that wasn't clear and obvious.
“I have seen all the images and at not one moment can you tell that has clearly hit my arms because it never. I knew straight away I've headed it down in between my arms.”