The events of the previous Saturday, in which Brendan Rodgers’ team lost at Tynecastle due to a VAR storm, will be hard for Celtic fans to forget.
The hosts won 2-0 thanks to stealthy goals from Jorge Grant and Lawrence Shankland, but the major talking point of yesterday afternoon has been the officiating.
First off, even though Hyunjun Yang didn’t have particularly malevolent intent, he was sent off right away following Adam Idah’s failed penalty for a high challenge on Alex Cochrane.
Despite the South Korea international’s sincere efforts to move the ball, the VAR control room officials upgraded his initial yellow card to a straight red, forcing the Bhoys to play with 10 men for the majority of the match.
Tomoki Iwata was called for a contentious handball inside the box even though he wasn’t looking at the ball, and Grant slotted home a crisp spot-kick to give Hearts the lead shortly before Don Robertson blew for halftime.
Hearts had every right to win yesterday, and Shankland’s goal in the 56th minute secured the home team’s triumph. Hearts had the better of the play overall.
But after the game, Celtics manager Brendan Rodgers said, “I never like to comment on officials; it’s not something I do,” expressing confusion about some of the referees’ choices. However, that has cost us now. It was extremely bad officiating, from John Beaton using VAR to the officials on the field.
Hearts legend Neil McCann has stated his opinion that Yang’s ejection and the questionable penalty granted to the hosts shouldn’t have happened to Celtic.
First, he said, “I think the referee’s on-field decision is right and it’s a yellow card,” in reference to the red card [BBC Sportscene].
It is totally inappropriate to ask him to look at the monitor again. The red card wasn’t supposed to be sent out.
“It’s just another calamitous weekend for me in terms of decisions missed and decisions given by officials, whether on the pitch or off the field,” McCann continued in reference to Hearts’ penalty award.
It was a completely incorrect choice. I am aware of the rules of the game and the fact that his arm is separated from his body. However, the boy has no knowledge of it. It impacted his arm rather obviously, but there was no malicious intent.
The players will need to move past their displeasure quickly because, to put it mildly, Celtic have been hard done by. Still, there is not much time to spare in their quest to bring a domestic double to Parkhead.
Livingston’s trip to Parkhead in the Scottish Cup final eight on Sunday gives the Bhoys a chance to secure their spot at Hampden for the first time this year.
Attending to David Martindale’s team would instill some confidence in the ranks prior to what is expected to be a crowded run-in.
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