West Bromwich Albion began the Championship season with a 2-1 win at Norwich City, scoring twice in the final 20 minutes at Carrow Road after a contested opening goal that went in off Aune Heggebø's arm.
Norwich had the better of the game for long spells, out-shooting West Brom 20-9 with seven attempts on target to four, but could not turn possession into goals. West Brom led in the 74th minute when Jimmy-Jay Morgan's left-wing cross flew beyond goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic's outstretched hand and into the path of Heggebø, who directed it in off his arm as Norwich's players and staff protested to referee Tim Robinson; the goal stood. Morgan doubled the lead himself in the 86th minute, racing clear before finishing, and Mathias Kvistgaarden's headed consolation in the 90th came too late for the hosts.
Norwich head coach Philippe Clement said afterwards: "It was clearly with the arm that the player scores. We could see that from where we were watching, 50 yards away. It was the decisive moment in the game and should have been spotted. There are four officials and one of them should have seen it. Maybe the referee didn't have the best view. But the linesman on our side needs to see that. Missing game-changing moments like this shouldn't happen. It has cost us at least two, maybe three points."
Five days later the Football Association charged Heggebø with misconduct, alleging he did "successfully deceive a match official by handling the ball in a direct successful attempt to score a goal," and an independent regulatory commission upheld a two-match ban. West Brom appealed, arguing a deflection off Kovacevic had left Heggebø "less than 0.1 of a second to react"; the club said the charge was believed to be the first of its kind in English football. Heggebø missed the Baggies' following two matches. Head coach James Morrison said: "We wanted to back Bo because he's not that type of person. He was upset because he was saying it was calling him a cheat, basically, and we all know he's not that." He added: "If they're going to do it, we accept it, but they've got to be consistent throughout the season."