Hal Robson-Kanu delivers his verdict on controversial decision against Nottingham Forest in 1-0 defeat at Luton Town | OneFootball

Luton Town went into the break one goal to the good in their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest this afternoon.

Kal Naismith replaced Elijah Adebayo as penalty taker and calmly slotted past Brice Samba in the 37th minute.

The Hatters started very brightly, pressing from the front and making their presence known aggressively at Kenilworth Road.

James Bree looked to chip the ball past Jack Colback and the former Newcastle United man’s right arm made contact with the ball to the award of a penalty in the closing exchanges of the first half.

It was from very close range and there may have been some confusion as Bree slapped the ball away after it came back off of Colback’s arm.

Hal Robson-Kanu was a studio pundit for Sky Sports this afternoon and had his say on the decision at half time.

He said: “It’s a difficult one but, Colback’s feet are inside the box, his hand moves towards the ball, whether that’s his momentum, I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I think it’s a penalty, you could argue it either way but the referee has given it, and it ultimately was (a penalty).”

The handball rule has been very inconsistent in recent years and officials have a very difficult job implementing it clearly on a game-by-game basis.

The Verdict

Quiz: Do Nottingham Forest and Derby County have these 10 things in common?

1 of 10

BOTH CLUBS HAVE WON THE DIVISION 1 / PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE

YES NO

Given how close Bree is to Colback when he tries to chip it past him, it is quite harsh to call it a handball and award a penalty.

The makeshift left wing back does not have time to react and avoid the ball hitting his arm, which is out from his body, but it is not in an unnatural position, he is merely steadying himself after closing Bree down.

In a very evenly matched opening period, with neither side creating many clear cut chances, with the possible exception of a close range Lewis Grabban shot, the penalty at least livened up the encounter and forced Forest to take the game to the Hatters.

It could have gone either way, but the referee was not feeling too lenient and Luton profited from that.