Footage has emerged of Ivan Toney bending the rules before scoring in his first match back since serving an eight-month ban for breaching the FA’s betting rules. The Brentford hotshot curled a freekick around Nottingham Forest‘s wall in the 19th minute to level the scores at the Gtech Community Stadium.
But it appears Toney moved the ball twice before firing it past Matt Turner in the opposition goal mouth. Toney is seen nudging the ball to the right before picking it up and placing it outside of the referee’s markings.
Yet the Sky Sports panel couldn’t agree on how much of an impact it would have had on the goal. Michael Dawson argued the wall was solely to blame.
“Ivan Toney moves the ball slightly I don’t think that has too much of an impact on the outcome, I really don’t,” he said. “I’m not sure what Callum Hudson-Odoi is doing here. There was only one thing that was going to happen and that’s Toney shooting
Meanwhile, Karen Carney insisted that Toney moving the ball would have “definitely” played a part. “The wall was poor but I think he moving the ball gives him more of that angle just to bend it around again,” she said.
“There’s Yates fuming saying ‘come on goalkeeper he’s going to bend it there. Look he’s gonna put it in there.’ The goalkeeper goes over checks but says ‘No I’m happy’.” In the end, Brentford won the match 3-2 with Toney’s goal proving to be pivotal.
It was the perfect return party for the one-cap England international, who was over the moon with the result and his goal. “I practice free-kicks in training,” said Toney. “Everyone batters me because most of them end up in the car park, but when it matters I deliver so it’s all good.”
When asked if he was allowed to move the ball before taking his freekick, he replied: “I think you have a yard either way (to move the ball) so I just moved the ball and bent it around the corner.
“It was a long time coming. I manifested this win when I was at home during the time I was out, I am here now and buzzing to be back scoring goals and winning with the team. I 100% knew this would happen again. I manifest things like this. Before the game, before I left my house, I thought, ‘We’re winning today and I’m scoring.’ And I made it happen, which is good. I’m grateful to be back playing with the lads, I’ve missed it so much. The fans, everyone… Yeah I’m back, I’m back.”