Tottenham fire blanks in draw at Nottingham Forest after Williams goal ruled out
Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest drew in a Premier League match marred by a controversial VAR decision to disallow a Neco Williams goal. Forest coach Oliver Glasner criticized the officials, claiming the handball call was based on guesswork.
Why it matters
The incident reignites the ongoing debate regarding the consistency and threshold of VAR intervention in professional football.
Neco Williams had a goal disallowed for handball in the second half. Neco Williams had a goal disallowed for handball in the second half. Premier League Glasner claims VAR was ‘guessing’ after Forest are denied winner against Spurs Ben Fisher at the City Ground Sat 5 Sep 2026 13.59 EDT First published on Sat 5 Sep 2026 12.11 EDT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google Oliver Glasner argued there was insufficient evidence to disallow Neco Williams’s goal against Tottenham, accusing the video assistant referee Peter Bankes of guessing that the Nottingham Forest defender handled and said ruling it out weakens the officials’ authority. Midway through the second half, Williams stooped to head in on the goalline as Sandro Tonali attempted to hook the ball clear after Morgan Gibbs-White’s deflected effort bobbled towards the net.
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