Five memorable disallowed goals

When Alberto Moreno's lobbed volleyed effort found the far corner of Rob Elliot's net yesterday afternoon, for a moment it appeared that the Spanish full-back had drawn Liverpool level away at Newcastle United.

However, the visiting side's celebrations were cut short by the referee's assistant, who wrongly adjudged that the defender had strayed into an offside position before he had found the back of the net.

Inspired by Moreno's misfortune, Sports Mole has picked out five other memorable goals that have been disallowed down the years.

With just 60 seconds left of Manchester United's FA Cup fourth-round replay away at Wimbledon and trailing 1-0 to a Marcus Gayle goal, giant goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel made his way forward for a corner in a bid to salvage the tie for the visitors.

The Danish goalkeeper had found the net two years earlier during a UEFA Cup encounter against Russian side Rotor Volgograd. He repeated that trick with an acrobatic finish from Gary Pallister's looping header, only to be rightly ruled offside. Speaking to FourFourTwo a few years ago, Schmeichel said of that moment: "I'm very, very disappointed, but the linesman was right. I was offside. It was an FA Cup tie, and it would have brought us back into the game."

Now for some good fortune for Man United and in particular their goalkeeper Roy Carroll. As the Premier League encounter against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, which was locked at 0-0, ticked towards stoppage time, the Northern Irishman raced outside of his penalty area and headed towards the halfway line to make a clearance.

He failed to make a clean connection, though, and the ball was eventually worked to Spurs midfielder Pedro Mendes just inside the United half. Seeing that Carroll was still retreating, the Portuguese player went for goal with a rising effort. The United custodian was just about quick enough to get back into position for the ball to drop into his hands, only to then spill it. Virtually everyone inside the ground could see that by the time Carroll had hooked the ball back it had clearly crossed the line, except for the men that mattered - the officials. Carroll wore the number 13 shirt during his time at United, yet it was certainly a lucky number for him!

Ever since he joined Dagenham & Redbridge - then of the National League - in 2004, Mackail-Smith has been a regular scorer of goals. His spell with the Daggers has been followed by stints in the Football League with Peterborough United, Brighton & Hove Albion and currently Luton Town, all of whom have also profited from the 31-year-old's clinical touch in front of goal.

Perhaps his best goal came in September of this year, although it has sadly not gone down in the record books. He met Josh McQuoid's cross from the right with an overhead kick that flew beyond helpless Mansfield Town goalkeeper Brian Jensen, only to see the linesman raise his flag. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mackail-Smith said: "It was disappointing as I felt like I was onside. I know I started offside when Josh was cutting in, but I made up the ground to get back onside so when I hit the shot and it went in, the defender was behind me."

Ron Atkinson rarely enjoyed his visits to The Dell during his time in charge of Man United, although on a trip down to the South Coast in 1981 it seemed that he had been granted a big stroke of luck, much to the dismay of Southampton centre-forward Keegan.

The former Liverpool frontman produced great acrobatics to fire a volley into the top corner of Paddy Roche's net, which as far as most people were concerned, had put the hosting Saints 3-2 in front. However, following consultation with his linesman, the referee ruled the goal out for an offside against Southampton midfielder David Armstrong earlier in the move. Thankfully for the home team, they still went on to win the game thanks to a late strike from Armstrong.

Throughout his time at Real Madrid, the watching world has become accustomed to incidents in which Ronaldo has aimed either his disappointment or anger towards a teammate. Gareth Bale in particular has been on the receiving end of numerous petulant outbursts from the number seven.

But, when Portugal took on Spain in an international friendly five years ago, perhaps Ronaldo was justified in displaying his displeasure towards a teammate, namely Nani. The Portuguese talisman had shown some dazzling skill before his lobbed effort left Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas rooted to the spot. Yet, just as the ball was about to cross the line unopposed, an offside Nani inexplicably nodded the ball in, much to the disgust of a disbelieving Ronaldo.