THE linesman at the heart of one of football's greatest controversies last night said he would have had to "run faster than Linford Christie" to have made the right decision.

Assistant referee Rob Lewis yesterday admitted he failed to spot that Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll had spilled Pedro Mendes' long-range lob into his own net on Tuesday night.

The mistake meant referee Mark Clattenburg, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, had to wave play on, denying Tottenham their first league win at Old Trafford since 1989.

Mr Lewis, 35, was close to the halfway line, in line with the Manchester defence, when Mendes let fly.

Despite sprinting as fast he could, he was unable to get close enough to the action to be certain that the ball had crossed the line.

"I was doing my primary job, which was to stand in line with the last defender and watch for offside," he said.

"'I pride myself on being relatively fast over a short distance, but by the time the ball landed, I was still 25 yards away from goal and it was impossible from that distance to judge if it had crossed the line.

"I could not have guessed because you have to be 100 per cent sure on such important decisions."

The assistant referee supports the view that video technology should be used to rule on such decisions, although he has warned that video replays might not be the answer in all circumstances.

"My view, and I think it is shared by most referees, is that for matter-of-fact issues like whether the ball has crossed the line, technology should be introduced," he said.