Ivan Toney appears to cheat on his first game back from a ban as he moves the ball before scoring a free-kick

Ivan Toney was on the scoresheet on his first game back from serving a long-term ban. 

He marked his comeback with a brilliantly taken free-kick against Nottingham, curled around the wall, into the back of the net.

However, a particular moment before Toney’s goal became the focus of discussion. A keen-eyed fan observed an interesting detail leading up to the goal.

Before taking the set piece, he noticed the positioning of Forest’s defensive wall and seized the opportunity to adjust the ball’s placement a foot to his right, providing a more favourable angle for himself to take the shot.

He then cleverly shifted part of the vanishing spray to cover the new position of the ball. Interestingly, the referee was very close by but somehow did not spot any infringement.

Watch below:

Some of most devious shithousery you will see. Ivan Toney. You Evil Genius ? pic.twitter.com/OsFUjImWCo

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) January 20, 2024

Ivan Toney adjusting the position of the ball after the wall had been positioned and set: pic.twitter.com/rKLx795xMs

— Caño Football (@CanoFootball) January 20, 2024

BACK WITH A BANG. ?

Ivan Toney smashes home the free kick in his first game in more than eight months! pic.twitter.com/P9GUFRSJOt

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 20, 2024

Some may call it being clever, and some might call it cheating. What Toney did was against the rules, and it is surprising that no Forest player called him out for it.