Sport

I wuz robbed by a linesman way off line

Patrick Sawer|Raoul Simons|Evening Standard
14 April 2012

Tottenham's Pedro Mendes today told how he scored the goal that never was. The Portuguese midfielder should have clinched victory for Spurs against Manchester United, but linesman Ray Lewis failed to notice his lob had crossed the goal-line after being fumbled by United keeper Rory Carroll.

Instead, Carroll was allowed to scoop the ball back out of his net and the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

The incident - which followed a weekend of refereeing blunders - has once again prompted calls for video evidence and a fourth official at Premiership matches.

Mendes said: "It is frustrating because we should have won. We should have been going home with three points. Now we have to settle for one.

"It would have been an amazing result. Before the game, we said we would have been happy with a draw but now we are really frustrated.

"I saw that Carroll had come forward and was out of his goal. The ball came to me so I shot and I hit really well. In fact, I hit it in the goal and it was a goal! Only the referee didn't think so.

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"I know it happened very quickly and the keeper pulled the ball back, but you would hope the linesman would be in the right place to see if it was a goal or not.

"I could not see it initially because I was so far away although I had a feeling the ball had crossed the line and, having seen it again, there is no doubt. I know it's difficult for the officials, but it is frustrating for us."

The decision astonished the 67,962 crowd - with even United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitting: "You could clearly see the ball was over the line, no question."

Television footage clearly shows Carroll fumbling Mendes's speculative lob and the ball travelling at least a yard over the line, before the goalkeeper managed to lean back and retrieve it. The incident prompted Spurs coach Martin Jol to call on the Premier League to sanction the use of TV replays during matches.

He said: "It's a disgrace, considering you are playing football in 2005 and there is so much technology in the world. I think it is time we introduced it."

Sir Alex said: "I was against it in the past because of the time factor, but it only takes 30 seconds to make a decision. It's time to enter a new era with football and make progress, because the technology is there. Maybe we should start using technology to deal with situations like this, to decide whether the ball has crossed the line or not. That would be a start."

The linesman's mistake followed a decision by referee Mike Riley not to award a penalty to Liverpool on New Year's Day, despite what appeared to be a clear-cut hand ball by Chelsea defender Tiago Mendes.

Riley failed to spot Tiago's hand ball as he rose to meet a Steven Gerrard freekick. Earlier in the game he didn't notice Claude Makelele's foul on Florent Sinama-Pongolle. That led Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher to call for an FA review of Riley's performance, claiming his decisions could tip the balance of the title race.

Carragher, who argued with Riley in the tunnel at half-time and again at the end of a game, which Premiership leaders Chelsea won 1-0, said: "The referees who perform well should get these big games. They should be held more accountable for their performances."