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Former Premier League referee and ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has cast his verdict on whether Amad Diallo should have been penalised for a handball during Manchester United's 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest. The ball seemingly struck the Ivorian's arm after a corner from the hosts. Ruben Amorim's side took the lead in controversial circumstances, as the visitors were awarded a corner when the ball seemingly hadn't crossed the line. Former referee Mike Dean stated that the assistant referee had guessed when making his decision, which ultimately led to Casemiro's opening goal. However, the Tricky Trees fought their way back into the contest, levelling proceedings through Morgan Gibbs-White before Nicolo Savona reacted quickest to poke the ball past Senne Lemmens just two minutes later. And fans were then left irate after no penalty was awarded after the ball hit Amad's arm in the box with the score still at 2-1. Hackett Believes Handball was 'Clear' The incident came when a corner was swung in on the 70-minute mark. Ryan Yates rose to flick the ball on, before Diallo tried to clear his lines. Unfortunately, his mistimed jump meant that the ball hit his arm, rather than his head. Referee Darren England had a clear view of what happened, but opted not to point to the spot and give Forest a penalty, despite cries from the home fans. The Premier League did not clarify why VAR chose not to intervene on their Match Centre account on X. And former referee Hackett believes that the referee got that particular call wrong. Writing on X, he said, "clear Handball offence." The decision would have granted Forest the chance to sure up their lead going into the final minutes of the game. But it was United who then grabbed the next goal, as Amad struck a superb volley past Mats Sels to tie up the match. Speaking about his goal after the match, the winger said: "I don't know if it’s goal of the season. We are really disappointed to go home with one point. We have confidence now and we are trying to do our best. We believe in the manager like he believes in us." United could very well have grabbed all three points late on, as Amad saw a strike cleared off the line by Murillo in extra time. The Brazilian's defending ensured that United failed to pick up a fourth consecutive win, as they dropped to seventh place consequently. Amorim's side will travel to north London in their next match, as they face a Tottenham side that put in a lacklustre performance during their 1-0 loss to Chelsea. Forest, meanwhile, have a Europa League tie against Sturm Graz to look forward to before their next league fixture against Leeds United.
