‘Incredible’ – Matt Le Tissier stunned after re-analysing Nottingham Forest vs Man United footage
Nottingham Forest can feel very hard done by after the ball was kept in play by Nicolo Savona but a corner was given which led to Man United scoring against them over the weekend.
That is the verdict of Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that the linesman should not have guessed if the ball was over the byline so as to avoid controversy.
Nottingham Forest faced Man United at the City Ground on Saturday (1 November) with the visitors aiming to continue their hot streak in Sean Dyche‘s first home league game in charge of the hosts.
The Red Devils took the lead in the first-half after a controversial corner was awarded by linesman Akil Howson and Casemiro pounced to head home.
Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona quickly put Forest in front early in the second-half, but Amad rescued a point for Ruben Amorim’s side with a fine volley late on.
Forest furious as Nicolo Savona keeps ball in before corner is awarded and leads to opener
The game was locked at 0-0 in the 33rd minute when Bryan Mbeumo crossed the ball from the right-wing and saw his delivery headed away from danger by Forest full-back Savona.
The Italian defender nodded the ball wide rather than up the pitch, but chased after it and clearly kept it from going off the field of play by the corner flag.
Linesman Howson, who was on the other side of the pitch, instantly signalled for a corner-kick to be taken as he felt the ball had gone out, much to the annoyance of the home players and fans.
Their anger increased tenfold moments later as Casemiro leapt to head home from Bruno Fernandes‘ delivery to put his side into the lead, with that goal eventually helping them earn a point.
Le Tissier slams corner decision and insists the linesman ‘needs to learn’
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former England and Southampton striker Le Tissier blasted the decision to give a corner to United, and insisted that the linesman needed to use his better judgement not to guess over a call that could lead to such controversy.
He said: “I think Sean Dyche will be feeling incredibly hard done by. I think it’s really difficult for the linesman in that situation, who is probably the best part of 80 yards away, to make a call like that from that far away when he can’t be certain that it’s gone out.
“The linesman, for me, has to err on the side of caution and not give it. Because if he doesn’t give it, it’s a big stretch. It’s a long way for Forest to then go up the other end and score and Man United to feel aggrieved because he didn’t give it.
“Whereas he gives it and he’s guessing because he can’t see properly from that far away. So he’s guessing, Man United score from the corner, and all of a sudden he looks like the villain of the piece.
“I think the linesman has got to be a little bit cleverer in which decisions he makes. He’s got to be 100% certain of that decision before he sticks his flag up. And he couldn’t be from such a distance away.
“So I think it was pretty poor for the linesman. I think he needs to learn from that mistake. And in future, if he’s in that situation again, he’s got to be 100% sure. He can’t be guessing, and that’s what he was, unfortunately, he was guessing.“