Alexis Mac Allister thought he had given Liverpool the lead in the dying stages of their Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, only for VAR to rule his goal out
Aaron Morris Senior Sports Reporter
15:59, 22 Feb 2026Updated 16:15, 22 Feb 2026
A VAR review
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VAR ruled out Alexis Mac Allister's goal(Image: Sky Sports)
Liverpool fans were handed an instant response after Alexis Mac Allister saw a late goal chalked off against Nottingham Forest for handball.
Rio Ngumoha stood one up in the centre of the area 89 minutes into the clash at 0-0; Hugo Ekitike's header parried by Stefan Ortega back into the danger zone. As Ola Aina tried to hoof the ball up field, Mac Allister leapt in front of the flight path in a bid to block the clearance.
The ball then seemingly bundled off the back of the midfielder and into the Forest goal, as Liverpool players wheeled away in celebration given the circumstances. However, jubilation was short lived in the away end of the City Ground, when VAR intervened to take a closer look at the passage of play.
From there, officials deemed that the ball had actually struck the arm of Mac Allister before bundling into the back of the net, ruling out what seemed to be like a late winner. Taking to X to explain the decision, the Premier League Match Centre wrote: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of goal to Liverpool.
"Referee announcement: 'After review, the ball hits the arm of the goalscorer, Liverpool No. 10. Therefore, it's an accidental handball by the goal scorer, so the final decision is a direct free kick."
Further drama ensued eight minutes later, when Mac Allister once again found the back of the net, only for VAR to step in once more. Dominik Szoboszlai curled the ball into Forest's area, with Virgil van Dijk meeting it at the back post.
While Ortega was equal to the header, he once again parried the ball into the middle of his six-yard box, leaving Mac Allister to run onto it and fire it into the back of the net.
VAR then worked to identify whether Van Dijk was offside in the build-up to the goal. However, after a short review, officials deemed that the Liverpool skipper was being played onside by Aina, much to Forest's dismay.
The whistle blew shortly after, as Liverpool ran out 1-0 winners after stoppage time. Speaking about the drama with Sky Sports at full-time, Mac Allister felt that the decision to rule out his first strike was "very harsh."
He said: "It hit my back as well. I understand the rules but it's football, it's very harsh."
On scoring the winning goal moments later, meanwhile, the Argentine added: "I knew I would get another one. Before the throw-in, I told Hugo it would be our situation. But I had another opportunity and I am glad it went in."
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