Nottingham Forest climbed to fifth in the Championship table on Boxing Day by beating Queens Park Rangers 2-0 at the City Ground.
After Greg Halford had headed home from Djamel Abdoun's deep cross to break the deadlock on 29 minutes, Andy Reid doubled Forest's lead in controversial circumstances late on.
A long pass was played down the left and Halford attempted to flick the ball through to Reid, who was in an offside position. However, Halford failed to make contact with the ball, which ran through to Reid anyway.
The linesman then raised his flag, QPR's defenders stopped playing and Reid poked the ball into the back of the net. Despite the flag being raised, referee Keith Stroud rightly awarded the goal, correcting his red-faced assistant and infuriating the visitors.
Below, Sports Mole examines Forest's contentious goal in more detail, as well as assessing whether the result was reflective of the action on Trentside.
Match statistics:
Forest:
Shots 17
On target 7
Possession 45%
Corners 4
Fouls 13
QPR:
Shots 13
On target 2
Possession 55%
Corners 9
Fouls 11
Was the result fair?
Yes and, despite having less possession, Forest could easily have won by a greater margin.
Forest's performance
The hosts' gameplan was simple but effective. Billy Davies's men were well organised at the back and they played to their strengths in attack. 6'4" Halford, who was switched from right-back to centre-forward in the absence of Simon Cox and Darius Henderson, was imperious in the air and received quick support from the creative trio of Reid, Abdoun and Jamie Mackie.
QPR's performance
Going forward, the Londoners looked neat and tidy in possession, but their final ball was poor. They really missed injured striker Charlie Austin, with replacement Bobby Zamora clearly unfit. Defensively, they were rattled by Halford.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Andy Reid: The Irishman retained possession well and capitalised on the aerial threat of Halford by providing the big man with regular ammunition from the flanks. He also took his goal very calmly, despite the commotion going on around him.
Biggest gaffe
Robert Green made very little effort to keep out Forest's second goal. It was almost as if the former England goalkeeper was trying to convince Reid not to shoot. If that was his plan, it failed spectacularly.
Referee performance
Kevin Stroud will be criticised for the confusion that surrounded Forest's second goal, but, in reality, he should be praised. He was right to overrule his assistant, having correctly observed that Halford had not made contact with the ball. In fact, Stroud had a very good game all round and he contributed to a open and entertaining contest.
What next?
Forest: The Reds will complete December unbeaten if they can get a result at home to Leeds United on Sunday.
QPR: Meanwhile, the Hoops will be aiming to end their run of successive defeats when they travel to Hertfordshire to face Watford.
Robert Summerscales
