Ryan Yates, the captain of Nottingham Forest, has spoken on the controversy surrounding Liverpool’s late winner against his team on Saturday.
Ryan Yates, the captain of Nottingham Forest, is still perplexed over how referee Paul Tierney gave possession to Liverpool before Darwin Nunez’s last-minute goal at the City Ground on Saturday. Due to Tierney’s erroneous application of the game’s regulations, the Reds were able to gain possession of the ball and advance the play, which ultimately allowed Nunez to grab all three points in the 99th minute.
Following a Forest corner, Ibrahima Konate appeared to have suffered a head injury and went down within the Liverpool box in the 96th minute. It happened following contact with his goalie Caoimhin Kelleher, even though a camera angle appeared to indicate that Yates may have struck him in the face.
When Callum Hudson-Odoi had possession of the ball heading towards the corner flag, the referee ought to have returned it to Forest. However, Kelleher was given the go-ahead to launch an uncontested restart and launch a Liverpool attack.
After Forest failed to clear their lines following that break forward, a clever Nunez flip set up Alexis Mac Allister for a lofted pass that beat Matz Sels for the win. At the final whistle, the players voiced their displeasure, while the Forest supporters let out yells of rage.
It’s thought that after the game, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis attempted to confront Tierney through the tunnel. Mark Clattenburg, the recently hired referees’ analyst for the Nottingham club, has revealed that the team plans to take the issue before the PGMOL.
“That’s the rule, they get the ball,” the referee informed Yates. Honestly, I have no idea how that’s feasible. We were leading the charge. We were in a corner. We were going to add another ball to the box, and there was simply a coming together.
“Then all of a sudden, they are permitted to advance the ball to the opposing end of the field and exert pressure on us while we are off. It’s peculiar—very peculiar. To keep moving forward, we must use it. I believe that we must. We have no other option. We must begin scoring points.”
Regarding the event, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stated: “It was exactly the same in the first half, wasn’t it? Yes, but it was the other way around, right? It was exactly the same. I would have also posed a question if it hadn’t occurred in the first half. However, I now believe that to be the norm.
“I can’t say for sure because it happened twice and both times the same thing was done. I don’t know how many passes we had to make to get there and score the goal, so I honestly don’t see the point of the discussions.
Of course, I completely comprehend Nottingham’s joy, rage, and other emotions. They fight for everything, which I can understand, but in this specific case, when it was twice the same, I believe that to be consistent.”
However, according to IFAB regulations, Tierney had every right to hand the ball to Forest in the first half after Yates went down clutching his head. That came after he was hit by a shot from Harvey Elliott. When the whistle blew, the ball was in the box, so Forest was rightfully awarded possession.
