adminSky Sports panel divided over disallowed Celtic goal
Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd believes Celtic were wrongly denied a goal during their 1-0 victory over St Johnstone, while fellow Sky Sports pundit James McFadden feels VAR was correct not to overturn the decision.
After Mika Baur had given the Hoops the lead at McDiarmid Park, fellow new arrival Haissem Hassan appeared to have doubled their advantage in the 65th minute. Sebastian Tounekti carried the ball down the left before sending a looping delivery towards the back post, where Kasper Hogh cushioned his header into the path of Hassan, who struck the ball into the net – only for the assistant referee to raise his flag.
Attention immediately turned to referee Matthew MacDermid, but VAR opted against getting involved despite replays appearing to indicate that the ball remained in play when Hogh made contact with it. However, the cameras’ view of the ball was blocked while it was in the air, meaning there was insufficient evidence to reach a conclusive verdict and the original on-field decision had to stand.
Sky Sports studio divided over major moment
During the post-match Sky Sports discussion, Boyd was adamant that the assistant referee had made the wrong call and felt the ball had stayed within the field of play. He said: “They’ve got it wrong. I think it’s in play but also you can’t argue with the rules.”
McFadden, the former Saints forward, took the opposite view and argued that VAR had no grounds to interfere once the goal had been ruled out on the pitch. He added: “There’s no way of telling, so you have to stick with the on-field decision. You need definitive proof to tell the assistant he’s wrong; you don’t have that here
“We can say we think the ball stays in all we like – it doesn’t matter. The assistant referee is along the line of the cross, he’s determined it’s out. We can say we think he’s wrong but we can’t prove that he’s wrong, therefore there is not a chance that’s getting over turned.
O’Neill reflects on St Johnstone triumph
Ultimately, the controversial moment did not affect the final outcome, with the Hoops securing another three points in Perth and maintaining their perfect beginning to the Premiership season.
Manager Martin O’Neill made four alterations to the team that defeated St Mirren last weekend, with in-form striker Camilo Duran among those left out. With Celtic facing a demanding schedule, beginning with Sunday’s trip to Ibrox to face Rangers, rotation was always expected.
However, the Hoops boss suggested Duran is unlikely to spend much time on the bench again after praising the Colombian’s performances.
He said: “[Duran’s] just been class. He looked tired in the game on Saturday, but I’m not surprised for the amount of things he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it. He’s second only to Daizen Maeda in terms of closing players down. So, I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not.
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