Why Forest’s second goal against Liverpool stood despite Liam Delap’s ‘foul throw’
Fans were left confused and suggested Nottingham Forest’s second goal against Liverpool shouldn’t have stood due to a foul throw in the build-up – but an explanation has since emerged.
Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola are still searching for their first Premier League wins at their respective new clubs after Liverpool and Nottingham Forest shared the points in an end-to-end game at Anfield.
Forest opened the scoring through Dan Ndoye after 24 minutes before the home side eventually equalised when Alexander Isak finished Cody Gakpo’s perfectly weighted cutback on the hour mark.
But Forest took the lead once again after 70 minutes, this time through Morgan Gibbs-White’s penalty.
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The build-up to the penalty caused some confusion, with Liam Delap accused of taking a foul throw before Neco Williams beat Alisson to the ball. The goalkeeper brought down the Welshman, leaving referee Samuel Barrott with no choice but to award a penalty.
Several fans on social media were left confused as to why neither the referee nor the assistant referee had picked up on the foul throw, with footage appearing to show one of Delap’s feet coming off the ground, which is against the IFAB Laws of the Game used by the Premier League.
One said: “The ball is still in his hands here and you can already see his foot off the ground. VAR missed it; Lino missed it; what's the difference? The officials missed it because they were too busy reading the instructions on how to use the subs board. Incompetent.”
Another added: “0 point in having laws around the throw-in if they’re just going to be ignored. Look at Delap’s back foot.”
Meanwhile, a third claimed: “Nobody is talking of this foul throw-in by Delap. Delap did a pirouette mid-throw to get the ball over the defender. 100% failure from VAR to correct a clear and obvious error.”
Ex-Premier League ref explains decision
Despite the pile-on, it appears the officials followed the correct protocol after all, with former Premier League official-turned-journalist Graham Scott offering an explanation via X.
Scott wrote: “A lot of comments that the VAR should intervene because it's a foul throw. He can't – the VAR protocol does not allow it. In any event, it appears the thrower's foot only comes off the ground after release, which would make the throw-in legal. Whether it's a pen is another matter.”
Victor Munoz rescued a point for Liverpool with a smart finish eight minutes from time.
Reds head coach Iraola was also annoyed by the amount of time the fourth official took to show the electronic board, which he said delayed substitutions by three minutes before his side conceded the penalty.
“With the penalty, the situation has already finished when the contact appears. And it's not an aggressive contact,” Iraola told BBC Match of the Day.
“But more than this, we complained about the subs. We had to wait about three minutes.
“He was having an issue with the board. I don't know if it was not working, but we definitely wanted to do the subs the last two or three stoppages before the goal.
“It wasn't just that reason, but everything helps.”
Speaking to TNT Sports, he added: “A professional fourth official cannot take three minutes. We'd already given him the subs two or three minutes before.
“I was already angry because in the previous stoppage we couldn't make the subs, and then before throw-in I thought we could do it.
“I don't know. They will have to explain it. But it has taken ages.”
Liverpool return to action against Ipswich Town on September 4.
Topics: Liverpool, Nottingham Forest
Luke Davies