A new image of Neco Williams’s disallowed goal against Tottenham has emerged, with BBC Sport reporter Dale Johnson claiming it provides conclusive evidence that the ball came off the Nottingham Forest defender’s forearm.
The defender looked to have given his side the lead against Spurs on Saturday when bundling home on the goal line after Sandro Tonali and Jan Paul van Hecke failed to clear Morgan Gibbs-White's shot. However, VAR intervened and ruled the goal out for handball.
VAR Decision and Reaction
The Premier League Match Centre confirmed: "VAR checked the referee’s call of goal to Nottingham Forest – and determined that Williams handled the ball immediately before scoring and recommended that the goal was disallowed."
Williams strongly disagreed with the decision, insisting he had headed the ball between his arms rather than making contact with his hand. The Wales international also questioned whether the incident met the “clear and obvious” threshold required for VAR to overturn the on-field decision.
“I’ve seen the images and the replays and at not one moment did I think I handballed it. I headed it in between my arms,” Williams said, expressing his frustration at the lengthy review. He also suggested that slowing down footage can make incidents appear different from what happened in real time.
Pundits and Journalists Weigh In
During the analysis of the game on BBC's Match of the Day, pundit Danny Murphy argued that the evidence was not clear enough to disallow the goal amid suggestions that the player had headed the ball over the line between his two arms.
Henry Winter, journalist and podcaster, posted on X on Sunday morning that the "goal should have stood". He wrote: "Forest have every right to be frustrated at VAR Peter Bankes’ intervention and the review of Neco Williams’ goal-line effort against Spurs."
"It wasn’t a clear and obvious mistake by referee Craig Pawso ... even after repeated viewings it’s hard to tell whether it was handball or not. So not a clear and obvious error."
A few hours later, Winter followed up with questions over a foul by Tonali on Williams while attempting - and failing - to clear the ball. He added: "Debate about Nottingham Forest’s controversially disallowed goal now taking in should Sandro Tonali have conceded a pen[alty] for a high boot? And/or shouldn’t Neco Williams be allowed to protect his head from an incoming boot?"
"[Referee] should have stuck with the original decision. VAR was not meant (originally) to be forensic. And I’ve yet to see a picture of the incident, even the latest ones, that categorically confirms it was handball."
"VAR has had a mare here, frustratingly, as the start to the season was, by and large, controversy-free."
Evidence of Handball
BBC Sport reporter Dale Johnson, though, believes he has found firm evidence that Williams pushed the ball over the line with his forearms, thus confirming that the goal was correctly ruled out for handball.
He posted on X: "Fair position to take to say the VAR could not have the definitive evidence (it's not about clear and obvious) for the Neco Williams handball."
"But this image (rather than another that has been widely used) does look conclusive that the ball came off Williams' right forearm."
