Mark Clattenburg, the referees’ analyst for Nottingham Forest, was left stunned by referee Paul Tierney’s decision to allow Darwin Nunez’s late goal for Liverpool on Saturday and plans to take up the issue with PGMOL, his former employers.
Clattenburg watched in disbelief as the game’s crucial moment unfolded. Just a minute before Nunez scored the winning goal for Liverpool in stoppage time, play had been paused due to a head injury to Ibrahima Konate.
Callum Hudson-Odoi had been in possession in a dangerous position, but upon Konate’s recovery, Tierney decided that Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher should restart the game.
Kelleher opted against returning the ball to the home side, instead passing to a teammate as Liverpool launched an attack. Although the goal didn’t happen immediately, Clattenburg argued that it was against the rules of the game.
He said: “The law is clear that if the ball is outside the penalty area [when the game is stopped], you get possession back and the opposition goes back one metre.
“We’ll be speaking with the PGMOL and the Premier League and we’ll discuss the correct course of action in the near future,” added Clattenburg, who said Tierney had denied him access to the referee’s room.
“The owner’s quite upset because he has invested a lot of money in the football club and he wants to see results, he feels that another decision has gone against the club and quite rightly he’s upset.
“I think everyone is and sad that they have lost in this way and hopefully their luck will change in the future.”