Before I start, let’s get this off the bat straight away. Celtic didn’t deserve anything out of the cup fixture against Kilmarnock yesterday afternoon. We were deservedly beaten. No excuses.
However, there was an incident in the game that could have allowed Celtic a way back into the tie. Sead Haksabanovic appeared to be fouled in the box as he made his way to the byline in the closing minutes of the game.
Kilmarnock defender, Lewis Mayo, stuck his leg out to try and intercept the ball but made contact with the Celtic winger’s right foot and Haksabanovic went down.
At the time I was certain it was a penalty but BBC pundits Pat Bonner and Cammy Bell had a different view during commentary of the match.
Bonner said [BBC Sportsound Open All Mic’s], “That was a dive by Haksabanovic at the edge of the box. No way was it a penalty.”
Co-pundit Cammy Bell replied, “I’m totally with you. The way he threw himself forward, it looked a dive. A very desperate dive as well.”
A ‘dive’ is a very harsh assessment in my view. The Killie defender fouled Haksabanovic. Contact was made. Whether it was enough to warrant a penalty is irrelevant. A quick VAR check deemed that there was no obvious error by the referee even though replays showed there appeared to be contact.
I’ve used this analogy before at some point, I’m sure, but I’ll say it again. When you boil an egg it doesn’t matter if the inside is soft or hard, it’s still a boiled egg. A foul is a foul.
For Celtic, and Brendan Rodgers, the defeat now puts pressure on the side to deliver against St Johnstone at Celtic Park next week.
A marked improvement in performance needs to be backed up with a comfortable win. Anything less and the run-up to the Glasgow Derby is going to be very uncomfortable for the Celtic manager.
In other news, Pat Bonner left ‘stunned’ at Celtic’s cup performance; one player gets pass marks
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