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New image of Nico Williams disallowed goal vs Tottenham reveals handball 'truth'

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Cite

Young, A. (2026, September 6). New image of Nico Williams disallowed goal vs Tottenham reveals handball 'truth'. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/new-image-neco-williams-disallowed-goal-tottenham-b1295928.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-06 · by Alex Young

Quick Summary

A new image of Nico Williams' disallowed goal against Tottenham on Saturday reveals a potentially decisive moment in the incident, which sparked controversy over whether it was handball or not. The image, posted by BBC Sport reporter Dale Johnson, appears to show that Williams pushed the ball into the net with his right forearm, supporting the VAR's decision to disallow the goal. This contradicts Williams' claim that he headed the ball between his arms and several pundits who have questioned the accuracy of the handball ruling. The image has been cited as conclusive evidence by Johnson, although some may still argue over its interpretation.
Written by AI on 2026-09-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Saturday, Nottingham Forest's Nico Williams had a goal disallowed against Tottenham in a Premier League match. The goal was initially allowed by the referee, but VAR (Video Assistant Referee) intervened and ruled it out for handball after reviewing the play. According to the VAR decision, Williams handled the ball immediately before scoring, which is why the goal was disallowed. Williams disputes this decision, claiming he headed the ball between his arms instead of making contact with his hand. He expressed frustration at the lengthy review process and suggested that slowing down footage can make incidents appear different from what happened in real time. Williams' goal was scored in the 11th minute and the match ended with a score of 1-0 in favor of Tottenham.

Written for “Liverpool Goal Controversy” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Liverpool Goal Controversy
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7986 article(s) · 66 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 66 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Alex Young
57 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The postponement impacts top-flight sides including Alaves, Celta Vigo, Levante, Real Betis and Valencia, who had all been set to begin their cup runs.
🔮 Arteta’s response suggested he had warned Dowman before kick-off about the physical treatment he might face and the importance of not retaliating.
🔮 Arsenal are expected to launch a bid for Bournemouth youngster Eli Junior Kroupi, who is just returning for a four-month injury layoff as their hopes of reigniting a pursuit of Julian Alvarez appears dead as Atletico Madrid are again digging in their heels ahead of the winter window opening.
🔮 Carrick is expected to be sacked this week, and Howe is reportedly the first-choice pick of club chief James Wilcox is take the job.
🔮 Both Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal will hope to have a thing or two to say about that, with the Real Madrid and Barcelona stars the biggest rivals to Kane.
🔮 The England captain has been in talks with Bayern over a contract extension for some time, with his current deal set to expire at the end of this season.
🔮 Tottenham will again be sweating over James Maddison’s fitness after the midfielder was forced off against Chelsea.
🔮 Marco Rose’s men followed up Thursday’s famous Europa League win by the same scoreline against an AC Milan managed by Ruben Amorim, whose successor could soon be following him out of Old Trafford.
🔮 Joe Willock had a second goal chalked off by VAR soon after, before Barnes doubled the Magpies’ advantage two minutes before the hour.
🔮 "If you go back 25 years, these players would never be anywhere near the club, never mind the pitch.
Also by Alex Young
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 57 articles by Alex Young →

Topics

Nottingham Forest Spurs The Premier League Match Centre VAR Wales

Subjects

Williams PERSON · 5× VAR ORG · 3× Neco Williams PERSON · 2× Nottingham Forest ORG · 2× Sandro Tonali PERSON · 2× Spurs ORG · 2× Jan Paul van Hecke PERSON · 1× Morgan Gibbs-White's PERSON · 1× The Premier League Match Centre ORG · 1× Wales GPE · 1×

Narrative

During the analysis of the game on BBC's Match of the Day, pundit Danny Murphy argued that the evidence was not clear enough to disallow the goal amid suggestions that the player had headed the ball over the line between his two arms.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-06
🔮 The Premier League Match Centre confirmed: "VAR checked the referee’s call of goal to Nottingham Forest – and determined that Williams handled the ball immediately before scoring and recommended that the goal was disallowed."
2026-09-06 · Evening Standard
New image of Nico Williams disallowed goal vs Tottenham reveals handball 'truth' · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

The Nottingham Forest defender looked to have given his side the lead against Spurs on Saturday when bundling home on the goal line after Sandro Tonali and Jan Paul van Hecke failed to clear Morgan Gibbs-White's shot. asserted
Tonali → look → shot
However, VAR intervened and rule the goal out for handball. asserted
VAR → intervene → handball
The Premier League Match Centre confirmed: "VAR checked the referee’s call of goal to Nottingham Forest – and determined that Williams handled the ball immediately before scoring and recommended that the goal was disallowed." asserted
goal → confirm → ball
Williams strongly disagreed with the decision, insisting he had headed the ball between his arms rather than making contact with his hand. asserted
he → disagree → hand
The Wales international also questioned whether the incident met the “clear and obvious” threshold required for VAR to overturn the on-field decision. asserted
VAR → question → decision
“I’ve seen the images and the replays and at not one moment did I think I handballed it. asserted
I → see → it
I headed it in between my arms,” Williams said, expressing his frustration at the lengthy review. asserted
Williams → head → review
He also suggested that slowing down footage can make incidents appear different from what happened in real time. uncertain
what → suggest → time
During the analysis of the game on BBC's Match of the Day, pundit Danny Murphy argued that the evidence was not clear enough to disallow the goal amid suggestions that the player had headed the ball over the line between his two arms. asserted
player → argue → arms
Henry Winter, journalist and podcaster, posted on X on Sunday morning that the "goal should have stood". asserted
goal → post → morning
He wrote: "Forest have every right to be frustrated at VAR Peter Bankes’ intervention and the review of Neco Williams’ goal-line effort against Spurs. asserted
Forest → write → Spurs
"It wasn’t a clear and obvious mistake by referee Craig Pawso ... even after repeated viewings it’s hard to tell whether it was handball or not. asserted
it → repeat → viewings
A few hours later, Winter followed up with questions over a foul by Tonali on Williams while attempting - and failing - to clear the ball. asserted
Winter → follow → ball
He added: "Debate about Nottingham Forest’s controversially disallowed goal now taking in should Sandro Tonali have conceded a pen[alty] for a high boot? asserted
Tonali → add → boot
And/or shouldn’t Neco Williams be allowed to protect his head from an incoming boot? asserted
Williams → allow → boot
"[Referee] should have stuck with the original decision. asserted
Referee → stick → decision
VAR was not meant (originally) to be forensic. asserted
VAR → mean → ?
And I’ve yet to see a picture of the incident, even the latest ones, that categorically confirms it was handball. asserted
it → ’ve → incident
"VAR has had a mare here, frustratingly, as the start to the season was, by and large, controversy-free." asserted
start → have → season
BBC Sport reporter Dale Johnson, though, believes he has found firm evidence that Williams pushed the ball over the line with his forearms, thus confirming that the goal was correctly ruled out for handball. asserted
goal → believe → handball
He posted on X: "Fair position to take to say the VAR could not have the definitive evidence (it's not about clear and obvious) for the Neco Williams handball. uncertain
it → post → handball
Read More "But this image (rather than another that has been widely used) does look conclusive that the ball came off Williams' right forearm." Below is the image again zoomed in on the incident. asserted
zoomed → read → incident
What do you think? asserted
you → think → What
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