Gibbs-White, Pereira, Neville in handball row after Nottingham Forest 3-2 loss at Man United | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest’s 3-2 loss at Manchester United sparked fresh debate over the handball law, centring on the hosts’ second goal. Forest had already secured Premier League safety before the trip to Old Trafford.

Morato levelled for the visitors, then two minutes later Matheus Cunha put United 2-1 up. Forest protested that Bryan Mbeumo handled in the build-up. Referee Michael Salisbury checked the monitor after a VAR intervention, and the goal stood.

“No matter what I say, it's not going to change the outcome,” he told Sky Sports.

“From the angle I was standing at, it looked like he (Mbeumo) caught the ball, whether he (Cunha) scores or not, for me it was still a handball. And he's continued the action but he (Salisbury) should've blown the whistle.”

“I asked him after and he said if Mbeumo scores it's not a goal but because Cunha scored it's a goal, which didn't make sense for me. Because he allowed the action to carry on which it should've got blown.”

Head coach Vitor Pereira called for a meeting with PGMOL to clarify the law. He said he accepted the referee’s call but felt it was a clear handball and believed that decision decided the game.

The on-field decision was upheld with the handball judged accidental. The laws were recently updated so accidental handball only applies to the scorer, whereas previously an accidental touch in the build-up could also lead to a goal being ruled out.

Source: Nottingham Post