That was pretty eventful for Liverpool, as another chapter of Jurgen Klopp’s final season at the club was written, this time at the City Ground in a controversial fashion.
Paul Tierney is probably publicly enemy number one in the eyes of Nottingham Forest fans after his ‘incorrect’ call led to Darwin Nunez’s last-gasp winner on Saturday.
Dermot Gallagher waded in on the chaos that erupted after Liverpool’s win, with several members of the Nottingham Forest fans booked, including owner Evangelos Marinakis coming onto the pitch.
The ex-referee made it clear that Paul Tierney did make the ‘incorrect’ call not to give the ball back to the home side after Ibrahima Konate had collided with Caoimhin Kelleher inside the penalty area, as he told Premier League Productions (02/03/24 at 8:10 pm).
Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had the ball when the whistle was blown for the Liverpool defender’s head injury, should have had the ball back uncontested, but instead, it was given to the away team.
That’s when the Nottingham Forest coaching staff vented their anger on the touchline, but play continued, and 1 minute and 50 seconds later, Darwin Nunez was scoring a very crucial winner.
Whilst Dermot Gallagher acknowledged that the law wasn’t correctly used, he made it clear that what followed didn’t contribute to Liverpool scoring.
Paul Tierney under fire after Liverpool’s late winner at Nottingham Forest
“Well, if you watch here, Kelleher hits Konate and then if you run it on, watch the referee,” said Gallagher.
“If you stop the pictures now, this is when the referee is whistling. He whistled when Hudson-Odoi had the ball.
“Now, the law states, if he had stopped it when Konate got hit by Kelleher, the ball would have to be dropped in the penalty area and it would be dropped to Kelleher. Not a problem.
“But the ball has been cleared from the box, Paul Tierney hadn’t whistled and he should give the ball back to Hudson-Odoi, who would then have the ball uncontested. He didn’t do it, for whatever reason, Paul Tierney didn’t do that.
“All it is an incorrect restart in law. The fact that Liverpool scored is a bit of a red herring myself because it was 1 minute 50 seconds, which is an entirety on the pitch. The ball comes forward, it goes back, goes forward, and even goes out for a throw-in. It’s just an incorrect restart in law, for me, it doesn’t directly attribute to a goal.”
Premier League title race
As you can imagine, Arsenal and Manchester City supporters would have also been annoyed and angry at that call.
This directly affects them because the Reds are now four points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who host neighbours Manchester United on Sunday.
That’s when attention will turn to Arsenal on Monday night as they take on bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United.
Every bit of detail is now being put under the microscope, as Nunez comes up with yet another crucial winner for his team.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
