Controversial 'Ghost Goal' Sends Bayer Leverkusen Top of the Bundesliga [VIDEO]: Nightly Soccer Report

A controversial goal scored by Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling sent the German club top of the Bundesliga tonight, but incredibly the winning goal scored by Kiessling shouldn’t have been awarded since the ball never went into the back of the net.

Watch the video below to see how Kiessling’s header appeared to go into the back of the net, but then watch the replays to uncover what really happened.

BT Sport commentator Jonathan Pearce, at first, thought the ball went into the back of the net, but co-commentator Kevin Kilbane noticed that the ball didn’t go in.

With the goal, Leverkusen beat Hoffenheim 2-1 and leapfrogged Bayern Munich to go top of the table. Despite Kiessling saying to the referee that the ball didn’t go into the back of the net, the referee awarded the goal.

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

Bundesliga

• Controversial ‘ghost goal’ sends Bayer Leverkusen top of the Bundesliga — The Guardian
• BT Sport’s commentators discuss Stefan Kiessling’s Phantom Goal, player appears to admit to ref it didn’t go in — 101GG

Premier League

• Brek Shea sees red card in Stoke City u-21 win against Reading — Stoke City
• Andros Townsend signs an extension to his Tottenham contract — Haringey Independent
• Manchester United dealing with injury bug as RVP may miss out again — Pro Soccer Talk
• Malky Mackay defends Moody but new Vincent Tan revelations rock Cardiff — The Guardian
• Arsenal’s Abou Diaby to undergo cruciate knee ligament surgery and is out until March — The Mirror
• Hillsborough investigation: Reinforcements to be brought from other forces to quiz police who attended 1989 tragedy — Independent
• Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson: I feel I belong here at Anfield now — Telegraph
• The night Jeremy Goss helped Norwich shock Bayern Munich — BBC Sport
• Marouane Fellaini set to postpone surgery on his injured wrist until after the World Cup next year — Telegraph
• Mauricio Pochettino continues to pull off balancing act at Southampton — The Guardian
• Premier League Supporters: The dramatic rise of Southampton FC and their fans — Pro Soccer Talk
• Iago Aspas ruled out until December for Liverpool with torn thigh muscle injury — The Mail
• BBC scraps plan to expand iPlayer app globally, citing competition from Netflix and Amazon — GigaOm

International soccer

• Brendan Rodgers believes dull coaches are holding back English players — The Guardian
• One Direction favourites to provide England’s official song for Brazil — The Independent
• Jose Mourinho questions John Terry’s decision to quit England — BBC Sport

MLS

• Schellas Hyndman to step down as FC Dallas head coach — Pro Soccer Talk
• MLS reveals 2013 playoff dates – Not playing on international date — The Original Winger

La Liga

• Gareth Bale fit and ready to play against Malaga on Saturday as he returns to full fitness — Independent
• Real Madrid to play a friendly against PSG in Doha on 2 January — Real Madrid

Football League

• Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies signs new contract — The Mail

Serie A

• Diego Maradona served with £33m tax bill by Italian authorities — The Guardian
• Benitez: “We lacked goals, but we were better than Roma” — Rafa Benitez

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.