Sports
Nottingham Forest boss gives referee Tierney ‘hot chase’ in tunnel after Liverpool defeat
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis reportedly chased referee Paul Tierney down the tunnel after the Tricky Trees’ agonising 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the Premier League.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were the victims of the 10th-latest Premier League goal on record at the City Ground, where Darwin Nunez headed home with 99 minutes on the clock to nick a dramatic win for Liverpool.
The hosts were not short of opportunities against the injury-hit Reds, and while Caoimhin Kelleher made a few vital saves, Santo’s men would have been full value for a point or even three on their own turf.
However, with the last chance of the game, Nunez found the bottom corner from Alexis Mac Allister’s delivery, sending Jurgen Klopp’s men four points clear at the summit of the Premier League rankings and leaving their hosts just four clear of the drop zone.
As Liverpool rejoiced in their first-ever Premier League win at the City Ground – where they had tried and failed on six occasions to earn maximum points – furious Forest staff remonstrated with Tierney over the events before Nunez’s last-gasp header.
A Forest attack was stopped in its tracks due to an apparent head injury for Ibrahima Konate, and Liverpool were gifted possession back courtesy of an uncontested drop ball before surging forward and finally breaching Matz Sels’s net.
The heated aftermath saw Forest defender Felipe booked and first-team coach Steven Reid given a red card by Tierney, while a stone-faced Marinakis also made his way onto the City Ground soil.
According to BBC Radio Five Live reporter Rob Schofield, the furore spilled out into the tunnel, where an enraged Marinakis followed referee Tierney and fourth official Graham Scott all the way to their office.
Schofield relayed that Marinakis repeatedly yelled “respect the players” at the officials before being led away by security, while Tricky Trees players also cut incandescent figures behind the scenes.
“You rarely see scenes like that in the tunnel. We saw Steven Reid getting frustrated. He and the Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis pursued referee Paul Tierney and fourth official Graham Scott all the way to referee’s office yelling at them “Respect the players! Respect the players! This happens every week! Respect the players!,” Schofield said.
“Marinakis had to be removed by security at one stage. The Forest players were furious, Nuno looked absolutely crestfallen. Jurgen Klopp stormed past me saying he doesn’t know why he’s getting so much flak. It really was all kicking off down here. Furious scenes.”
The hosts also had a penalty appeal waved away before Nunez struck at the other end of the field, thereby earning Liverpool their first league triumph at the City Ground in almost 40 years.
Forest fans also appeared to take issue with the amount of added time played on Saturday, as a minimum of eight minutes went up on Scott’s board before Konate’s head complaint led to a longer injury-time period.
Santo’s side – who could also land themselves in hot water with the FA owing to the unsavoury scenes at the end of Saturday’s defeat – will now bid to end a three-game losing run across all competitions when they make the trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on March 10.
Bayern Munich striker, Harry Kane, is currently topping the chart for the European top scorers so far across various domestic leagues following the weekend matches.
The England international leads the standings with 32 goals in 27 matches for Bayern Munich after scoring in the 4-2 win against VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
Behind Kane is Benfica’s Luis Suarez, who holds second place with 24 goals, while Kylian Mbappe remains third with 23 goals for Real Madrid.
Ayase Ueda is behind Mbappe and 23 goals for Feyenoord, while Manchester City striker Erling Haaland climbs to fifth place with 23 goals after scoring the winner for the Cityzens against Arsenal.
Paul Onuachu follows with 22 goals for Trabzonspor, while Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis, Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi and Brentford’s Igor Thiago each register 21 goals.
Estoril Praia’s Yanis Begraoui completes the top 10 with 19 goals, as European top scorers continue to promise intense competition in the coming weeks.
Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior scored as Real Madrid beat Alaves 2-1 on Tuesday to cling on to their slim hopes of catching Barcelona in La Liga.
Mbappe struck his league-leading 24th goal, but first since early February, with a deflected shot on the half hour at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius lashed in a second from distance early in the second half, which proved crucial as Alaves pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Toni Martinez.
The victory ended a two-match winless run in La Liga for Madrid and moved them back to within six points of leaders Barcelona, who host Celta Vigo on Wednesday.
“We have six matches coming up, the next one in three days. The aim is to win those matches – that’s the goal we’ve set ourselves as a team,” said Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, whose position is under increasing scrutiny.
“I don’t care much about what’s at stake for me personally. What matters to me is what’s at stake for Real Madrid.”
Madrid are staring down the barrel of a second consecutive season without a major trophy following last week’s Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Mbappe scored in both legs of that 6-4 aggregate defeat but a barren patch in La Liga, in part because of a knee injury, coincided with arch-rivals Barcelona streaking clear at the top.
Madrid faced early pressure from relegation-threatened Alaves, who were unbeaten in four matches.
Angel Perez broke in behind the home defence before strangely opting to pass instead of shooting with just Andriy Lunin blocking his path to goal. Martinez then tested the Real ‘keeper after finding a pocket of space.
Mbappe put Madrid ahead when his effort from just outside the box clipped a defender and wrong-footed Antonio Sivera.
The France captain then had an attempt beaten away by Sivera and Eder Militao clipped the crossbar, injuring himself in the process and having to go off before the break.
Martinez nearly levelled for Alaves when he poked a cross against the post, with his follow-up strike clawed out by Lunin.
Vinicius hammered in from 25 yards to give Madrid breathing space, and Brahim Diaz was denied by a brilliant headed clearance off the goalline.
Alaves continued to toil away as Victor Parada’s diving header hit the upright. Martinez netted a consolation with an inventive flick in stoppage time before loud jeers greeted the final whistle in Madrid.
Elsewhere, Real Betis came from behind to triumph 3-2 at Girona as Rodrigo Riquelme bagged the winner 10 minutes from time.
Gorka Guruzeta’s first-half goal lifted Athletic Bilbao to a 1-0 home win over Osasuna, while Mallorca and Valencia drew 1-1.
Manchester City beat Arsenal in their major Premier League title race clash at the Etihad thanks to Erling Haaland’s winner.
Pep Guardiola’s side defeated their rivals 2-1 on Sunday afternoon to move to within three points of the league leaders.
Rayan Cherki opened the scoring in the first half, before Kai Havertz pounced on a Gianluigi Donnarumma’s error to equalise.
And then during a tense second half, Haaland managed to find the all-important winner to sink the Gunners in Manchester.
Man City now know they can move to the top of the Premier League table with a win over Burnley on Wednesday, live on talkSPORT.
Erling Haaland’s goal is the difference and Man City now have the chance to move to the top of the Premier League.
They’ll be celebrating tonight – but not too hard, ahead of their meeting with Burnley on Wednesday, live on talkSPORT.
As for Arsenal, it’s a nightmare evening for them.
The Gunners had the quadruple in their sights a few weeks ago, but now, after losing four of their last six, hopes are doomed.
There will be no Carabao Cup, no FA Cup, and now potentially no Premier League following their dismal run.C CB.
European top scorers: Harry Kane tops chart ahead of others
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