Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has described Paul Tierney’s decision in Nottingham Forest’s Premier League loss to Liverpool as a “monumental error”.
Darwin Nunez scored the winning goal in the ninth minute of added time after the Reds failed to clear their lines. The goal occurred following a situation where Forest did not regain possession of the ball after play had been stopped for a potential head injury while they were in possession.
Clattenburg, who recently assumed an advisory role with Forest as a match and performance analyst, emphasised that Tierney made an incorrect decision.
The incident unfolded a minute before Nunez’s goal, amid a pause in play due to a head injury to Ibrahima Konate, as Callum Hudson-Odoi prepared to take a free kick.
Despite Konate being cleared to continue playing, Tierney signaled for Caoimhin Kelleher to restart the game. Kelleher complied by passing to a teammate instead of the opposition, but the subsequent goal didn’t follow almost immediately afterward.
Mike Dean reacts to Paul Tierney’s error in Liverpool win at Nottingham Forest
Mike Dean stated on Sky Sports: “Unfortunately for Paul [Tierney], it is a mistake and it’s a bad one because it leads to a goal, eventually. The law states that whoever has the ball last when the play does stop, the ball goes back to them. [Callum] Hudson-Odoi clearly had the ball and it should have been dropped to Forest on the wing.”