VAR and officiating took center stage in Celtic’s 2-0 victory against Hearts at the return of domestic play. Hearts parked the bus early on as Celtic defeated Steven Naismith’s team in a stuffy match that Brendan Rodgers’ team dominated, maintaining pressure at the top of the Scottish Premiership standings.
But, a penalty kick by Arne Engels and a well-struck effort by Luke McCowan outside the area saw Celtic win 2-0 in the end.
Though Rodgers maintains his five-point lead over the Rangers, it was the decisions made by match officials Andrew Dallas on VAR and match referee Colin Steven to give Celtic a penalty following a handball that made headlines.
What “clearly” transpired to give the Celtic penalty After James Penrice of Hearts touched Nicholas Kuhn’s cross in the area, Celtic was awarded a penalty. The call has generated a lot of debate this past weekend.
However, Steve Conroy and Des Roache of Behind the Whistles believe that the ruling was correct.
The former SFA referees used their podcast to explain why the match officials awarded the spot kick precisely. “I agree that it was a penalty,” Conroy remarked. It’s obvious that the ball struck him, and while some have questioned the distance, I believe it was sufficient. “However, I believe that the game-winning play was when the defender’s arms were extended and away from him, as we previously discussed.
Should our assumptions prove correct, the ball would have passed him rather than struck his body. Accordingly, he was influencing the ball’s trajectory and might have obstructed an offensive play.
The main point is that, even though his arms were raised and away from him, I believe it was a handball penalty. “So, that was not self-defense.” A former referee’s “gut feeling” regarding the Celtic Park award Steven Naismith lamented the penalty call, but Des Roache talks about his “first instinct” upon seeing the handball.
Roache continued, “My first instinct as soon as I seen it, I thought it was a penalty kick.
He did not bring his arm close to his body for self-defense. He’s extended his arms. Thus, all that will occur there is that he will obstruct the ball’s trajectory. “So, there was a fine.” Brendan Rodgers refuted Naismith’s claim that Hearts’ penalty shout was comparable to Celtic’s, saying that “the rules are pretty clear” regarding handball and that the referees made the right calls in both cases.
The Champions League matchup between Celtic and Slovan Bratislava is coming up, and Rodgers and the team’s supporters will be praying for a Celtic Park victory free of any more VAR controversies.
Read more news on
sportchannel.co.uk
Leave a Reply