adminNottingham Forest were left frustrated after their goalless Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground, with Neco Williams insisting his disallowed goal should have stood.
The Forest defender appeared to put his side ahead after reacting quickest to a rebound, but the goal was overturned following a VAR review that concluded the ball had struck his hand before crossing the line.
Forest initially thought they had finally broken the deadlock when Morgan Gibbs-White’s effort was saved by Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky. Williams then appeared to head the loose ball into the net, sparking celebrations among the home supporters.
However, after reviewing the incident, referee Craig Pawson ruled that Williams had handled the ball immediately before scoring and awarded Tottenham a free-kick instead.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean, speaking while the incident was being assessed, admitted: “It looks like it has hit his hand.”
The Premier League Match Centre subsequently confirmed the decision on X, stating that VAR had reviewed the original goal and determined that Williams handled the ball immediately before scoring.
Williams, however, strongly disagreed with the ruling and questioned whether the incident met the threshold for VAR intervention.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said he believed the goal should have been allowed because there was no “clear and obvious” error.
“I’ve seen the images and the replays and at not one moment did I think I hand-balled it,” Williams explained.
“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’ve 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. I’m at a loss with that one.”
The Wales international also claimed Forest had other reasons to feel hard done by during the match, including a couple of penalty appeals.
“Disappointing. A lot of decisions didn’t go our way today, but this is football,” Williams added.
“It could have been a penalty. I think there were a few times where we could and should have had a penalty, but this is where the consistency is not there at the minute.
“The big one for me is the disallowed goal. It’s a goal for me, it didn’t hit my arm, so that’s all I can say on that.”
Williams later appeared to make his feelings clear on social media, posting an image of himself from the match alongside the caption: “clear and obvious they say.”
Forest manager Oliver Glasner was similarly unhappy with the outcome and felt his team had potentially been denied two valuable points.
“It feels we lost two points today because I watched a few situations back and I think the goal must stand. It’s not clear and obvious,” Glasner said.
The Forest boss also questioned the consistency of the VAR threshold, pointing to guidance given to managers and clubs before the beginning of the campaign.
“We have a briefing before the season that the VAR threshold should be high again when VAR intervenes and I think it was not clear and obvious,” he added.
Glasner also believed Forest should have been awarded a penalty after Williams was challenged by Mohammed Kudus.
“For me it is a clear penalty when Neco Williams gets fouled because Kudus doesn’t even jump into the ball and when this situation happens anywhere on the pitch it is always a foul,” he argued.
“In these two situations we were not very lucky.”
Despite the controversy, Glasner acknowledged that Forest also had opportunities to win the match and needed to be more clinical.
“It was a huge fight from both teams and like last year every game is decided by small margins,” he said.
“I think we had them today on our side but if there is a disallowed goal in such a tight game we have to take the point.”
Glasner remained adamant that VAR should not have intervened in the Williams incident.
“It’s not clear and obvious,” he insisted. “If the referee gives handball during the game, I think the VAR shouldn’t intervene.
“You needed four different angles and then you guessed that he probably touched the ball with his arm.
“The VAR should say to stay with the on-field decision because it is about strengthening the referee. Stick to the on-field decision.”
Forest will now turn their attention to their next Premier League fixture, when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa next Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.
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