Nottingham Forest is seeking answers from Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the referees’ body, after being left upset by the build-up to Darwin Núñez’s 99th-minute winner for Liverpool, which resulted in ugly scenes that could have triggered a penalty from the Football Association.
Paul Tierney miscued a ball to Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher to restart the game, which was level with less than two minutes remaining when Núñez’s header increased Liverpool’s advantage at the top of the Premier League to four points. Fourth official Graham Scott showed eight added minutes had elapsed 36 seconds before Núñez’s goal, although the figure was minimal.
Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest owner, stormed onto the side of the pitch and was reportedly removed from the tunnel by security guards after demanding an explanation from Tierney, who had wrongly allowed Liverpool to resume play after two of their players collided while Forest had possession outside the visitors’ penalty area. Steven Reid, Forest’s first-team coach, was sent off and Mark Clattenburg, Forest’s refereeing analyst, was prevented from entering the referees’ dressing room. After the goal, a fan invaded the pitch and had to be removed by the stewards.
After the game, Forest took the unusual step of allowing Clattenburg, a former Premier League referee, to speak to them. He said: “Clatbuten said he had spoken to him about it: ‘The legislation states that if a referee intends to stop play – which he is entitled to do because of a head injury – he must return the ball to the team in possession. Nottingham Forest clearly had possession of the ball. The Laws of the Game make it clear that when the referee blows his whistle, the team in possession must be awarded the ball when play restarts. With the relationship that I have with the PGMOL and the Premier League, we will talk to the PGMOL, discuss what happened on the pitch and look at how we will proceed in the future. I will meet with the board and the owners and explain to them what has happened.”
On Marinakis, he said: “The owner is quite upset because, of course, he has invested a lot of money in the club. He wants to see results and feels that the second decision went against the club.”
Jürgen Klopp sympathised with Forest (indirectly agreeing that the Referee helped Liverpool to maintain their lead in the Title race) but explained that Tierney had made an identical decision against his team before half-time when Harvey Elliott’s shot was deflected by Ryan Yates. The referee proceeded to give the ball back to Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels – the ball was outside the Forest area and at the feet of Alexis Mac Allister when play was stopped.
Klopp expressed his delight at Núñez’s victory and warned opposing fans not to make fun of the Uruguay striker. Forest fans chanted: “Núñez replaced Bobby Clarke on the hour mark, making his Premier League debut. Carroll was a flop at Liverpool after his £35million move from Newcastle.
“I wouldn’t sing a song like that,” said the Liverpool manager. “I wouldn’t try to wind Darwin up. People are singing that song more and more and that’s the best way to immediately reassure him … they can sing it if Darwin responds as he did today. I think he understands it. His reaction is the best response.”
Nuno Espírito Santo, Forest’s manager, was left horrified by the tense finale, three days after the 89th-minute defeat to Manchester United. “We played a very good game, we limited Liverpool, a very good team with a good manager,” said the Portuguese. “They had chances, we had chances. It was a good football match. This situation was repeated when we [lost] in the last action of the game. It’s a difficult week behind us. It’s hard to accept.”