Officials Admit Manchester United's Second Goal Against Nottingham Forest Should Have Been Disallowed

KATHMANDU. Officials have admitted that the second goal scored by Manchester United in the Premier League football match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday should have been disallowed.

The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) clarified that the goal should not have been valid due to handball. The highest body of referees contacted Forest Club on Monday and confirmed that the chief referee Michael Salisbury made a mistake in his decision.

During the match, referee Salisbury ignored the suggestion of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and allowed the goal.

During the match, the ball hit the arm of Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo and went forward, and the shot taken by the Cameroonian international player was blocked by Forest's defender. Then, the rebound ball was directed towards the goal by his teammate Mathis Cunha, beating Forest goalkeeper Mattz Sels.

VAR referee Matt Donohue had asked chief referee Salisbury to check the monitor near the field, stating that Mbeumo had a handball in the same move. However, even after looking at the monitor, referee Salisbury concluded that the handball was unintentional and maintained his initial decision on the field, signaling a goal.

With that goal, United took a 2-1 lead in the match, and ultimately United won the match 3-2. After the match, Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White expressed dissatisfaction, saying,