Fans say ‘ban him again’ after spotting Ivan Toney’s controversial act before scoring free-kick on Brentford comeback

IVAN TONEY was branded a “cheat” on his return from an eight-month betting ban.

The Brentford striker TWICE moved the ball — and ref Darren England’s FOAM — to enable him to blast home a free-kick just 19 minutes into his first game back.

Sky Sports

Cameras picked up what Ivan Toney did before scoring against Nottingham Forest[/caption]

Sky Sports

Toney cleverly moved the foam and ball as he set up the free-kick[/caption]

Sky Sports

This gave him extra leverage for his angle to shoot the ball around the wall[/caption]

It sparked outrage from fans who accused him of cheating while Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo blasted VAR Michael Salisbury for not intervening.

Toney admitted he moved the ball “round the corner”.

And Nuno fumed: “There was a ball displacement

“The law is clear. Every situation and every goal must be checked — but they did not check it. All of you saw the ball displacement.

“So we finish with another situation that we have to look at and we are on the worst end of it. It was an important moment.”

Former top ref Mark Halsey declared: “Players are not allowed to move the ball and that is unsporting behaviour and he could have been given a yellow card.

“He’s got away with it, hasn’t he?”

And Forest Fan TV blasted on X: “Once a cheat always a cheat — Toney the Foamy.”

Initially, fans blasted the defensive wall set up by Forest keeper Matt Turner.

But zoomed-in replays then showed Toney moment of gamesmanship as he gave himself a better angle to shoot at goal.

Toney could clearly be seen moving the ball to his right.

Incredibly, he then attempted to cover his tracks by also shifting bits of the foam that the referee had used to mark where the effort should be taken from.

It gave Toney a much improved angle from which he clinically finished into the bottom corner leaving Turner with no chance.

Sky Sports reported that Nottingham Forest lodged a complaint with the referee at half-time.

Asked if Forest keeper Matt Turner should have made sure his wall was in the right place after Toney’s ball-move, Nuno admitted: “We have to be more mature in that situation as he changed the position of the ball.

“It is a soft goal and everyone thinks it is a mistake of the wall.

“But it is not a mistake of the wall as there is clear ball displacement and it is a yard almost.”

The England striker inspired his team to a much-needed victoryRex

Reuters

Neal Maupay scored a superb winner midway through the second half[/caption]

Toney’s equaliser sparked Brentford’s 3-2 comeback triumph over Forest — their first Prem win following a run of five successive league defeats.

On his ball move, he claimed: “Yeah. You have a yard either way so I moved it a bit round the corner.

“I’m grateful it went in and I’m grateful to be back playing with the lads — I have missed it so much. The fans, everyone, yeah, I’m back.”

But on Toney’s “yard” claim, Nuno added: “Oh yes? That is the first time I have heard that one.”

Toney’s goal was his first in 266 days — and he celebrated by running to the bench to hold aloft a shirt with the words: “For You Uncle Brian.”

The striker — banned after 232 breaches of FA betting rules — added: “I just wanted to be back scoring goals and playing with the team.”

Asked if he believed he would score, he replied: “Of course, 100 per cent.

Toney was sensational on his return to Premier League football

“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.

“I practise every day in training. Everyone banters when it goes in the stands but when it mattered I delivered so it’s good.”

But watching fans were far from impressed with Toney’s antic, with some insisting, “Ban him again!”

Reacting to the act on X, formerly known as Twitter, one furious viewer said: “Toney moving the ball to a more favourable position. Ban him again.”

A second fan said: “Ivan Toney caught red-handed moving the vanishing foam (and the ball) while the referee’s back is turned.”

A third said: “Ivan Toney does not score that goal if he didn’t move the ball and the white foam. How did VAR not check that?!”

Another said: “Toney not only moved the ball after the wall was set, he moved it a second time and even moved the foam I’ll give Turner a break on this one.”

While a fifth said: “Naughty boy Toney, moving the ball & the foam whilst ref wasn’t looking! Still a useless wall with that gap & GK in wrong position.”

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