Shearer slams ‘totally wrong’ Liverpool goal decision as Forest’s Clattenberg responds to referee mistake

Lewis Oldham
Shearer slams Tierney
Alan Shearer hits out at Paul Tierney.

Alan Shearer has hit out at referee Paul Tierney after his mistake led to Liverpool netting a last-gasp winner against Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday as Darwin Nunez netted in the 99th minute to seal a 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side (with a potential point deduction looming) are perilously looking over their shoulders in fear of relegation and they were left fuming after the final whistle as they felt Nunez’s goal should not have stood.

In the build-up to the winner, Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate went down with a head injury when Forest were on an attack.

Rules state that play should have been resumed via Forest drop-ball but instead, referee Tierney opted to give the ball straight to Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and Jurgen Klopp‘s side ended up scoring from the next move.

Former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg was recently appointed as a referee analyst for Nottingham Forest and he has explained why Tierney made a mistake.

“The law states that, if the referee is going to stop the game – which he is entitled to for a head injury – the ball has to go back to the team that has possession. Nottingham Forest clearly had possession,” Clattenburg said post-match.

“The laws of the game clearly state that, when the referee blows his whistle, the team that has possession should get possession when the game is started again.”

He added: “When Liverpool were given possession, they went on the attack and eventually scored from it.

“It is another decision that has gone against Nottingham Forest… We just need to hope that this luck changes.”

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Newcastle United legend Shearer meanwhile hit out at Tierney for “dropping a big clanger”.

“He’s dropped a big clanger, Paul Tierney,” Shearer said on Match of the Day. “He’s got it totally wrong. It’s a corner to Forest late on, and Konate gets a head injury.

“He gets knocked down by his goalkeeper, Kelleher, and Paul Tierney doesn’t blow [straight away]; Hudson-Odoi has the ball, and then the referee blows because it’s a head injury. He blows when Forest have the ball.

“What he does is he then gives the ball unchallenged to the goalkeeper, which is totally wrong and should be a Forest unchallenged drop-ball out on the wing where the ball was stopped. That’s who touched it last.

“I get the point of the goal being one minute and 50 seconds later; the point is valid, but if you drop it where Forest should have had it, everything changes. Liverpool don’t get the corner, and the goal doesn’t happen.”