Nottingham Forest were on the wrong end of a ‘big club bias’ during their FA Cup defeat to Liverpool, it has been claimed.
The quarter-final revolved around two key incidents which both went Liverpool’s way. First, Diogo Jota’s winning goal when, from one angle, he looked to be offside. Second, when Ryan Yates went down under a challenge from Alisson Becker as Forest chased an equaliser.
Speaking on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast, former Forest striker Glenn Murray insisted a penalty should have been given. He was backed up by the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards and former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly.
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The trio agreed that had a similar incident occurred at the other end, Liverpool would have been awarded a spot-kick.
“I feel as though two big decisions swayed in Liverpool’s way,” said Murray. “From the angle I saw on the TV, Jota looked well offside. Then they drew the lines on and it completely changed the picture.
“Then for penalty, I think if a goalkeeper comes rushing out like that, any contact with the player, it’s got to be judged a penalty.”
Edwards agreed, saying: “If that’s at the other end, if that’s a Liverpool striker going down, it’s a penalty, VAR would give it. It’s just the big club bias I’ve been talking about it for 25 years, ever since I’ve been into football. I agree with Glenn.
“The camera angle for the offside [for the goal] was slightly misleading though because when they did the freeze frame, it wasn’t in a line. When they drew the lines on, he was marginally onside.”
Kelly added: “I think it was a penalty. It’s crazy to think of the bias when you’ve got something that should be separate from the emotion of the stadium. It’s hard to say that that’s happened, but you feel if it had have been Liverpool, they would have got that decision. It’s crazy to think that that can still happen.”
