Auston Trusty’s sending off for Celtic against Hearts is proving to be a huge talking point, as Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd dished it out on Sky Sports.
Nobody is arguing that it was a clear foul from Trusty on Pierre Landry Kabore; it’s just a case of whether it was a yellow or red card offence for the Celtic defender.
Initially, the on-field referee, Steven McLean, showed Trusty a yellow card before VAR intervened and advised their colleague to reverse his on-field call – and he obliged.
It proved to be a turning point because Hearts would equalise through Claudio Braga, and both teams would share the spoils in their Premiership title tussle.
Is Martin O’Neill correct? The Celtic boss was fuming!
Should Auston Trusty have been sent off for Celtic against Hearts?
Even before Trusty’s sending off, it was a very ugly game of football, with neither team being able to control the match.
But as Kabore skipped past Trusty, he was, initially, heading away from the goal, and that’s a point Gallagher wanted to bring up when making his argument as to why it was wrong to show the red card.
The former Premier League referee explained that it was a ‘possible’ goalscoring opportunity for the Hearts man because there was also a ‘covering defender’ behind Trusty.
Gallagher wanted to make it clear that the rules state it has to be an ‘obvious’ goal-scoring opportunity, as he told Sky Sports’ Ref Watch (26/01/26).
That’s where former Premier League player Bothroyd intervened and admitted he can’t argue with that point, but with his striker’s hat on, he thinks Kabore had the ‘rapid’ pace to get a clear shot at goal.
Gallagher: “I think it’s really harsh, to be honest. The law says DOGSO (Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity). The ‘O’ stands for obvious. I think this is ‘possible.’ I think the referee has got it right on-field (giving out a yellow card), to be honest.
“If you look, the player isn’t in possession of the ball; he has to carry on after that ball. That’s one thing. He is moving away from the goal. He will get the ball eventually, but by the time he gets the ball, the covering defender will come across.”
Sky Sports presenter: “Now, Jay, you disagree on this. You think the player has an opportunity to have a shot.”
Bothroyd: “Again, it’s a possible goal-scoring opportunity. That’s where Dermot has got me there.
“But one thing I do know for sure, I have been in that situation, and I know. When you look at the pace of that player. I was pretty quick, but when you look at the pace of that player, who is rapid. He is going to take a touch inside there. His next touch will take him towards the goal. And I believe he will get a shot off, which then is a goalscoring opportunity.
“But it isn’t obvious. That’s what Dermot is saying. The reason why it hasn’t been given is that it’s not an obvious goalscoring opportunity. The far defender there will maybe cover and get a tackle in.”
Sky Sports presenter: “Martin O’Neill is not happy about it because he believes the covering defender could get that. Is that something VAR are going to take into account in that situation? Not just the fact that the ball, to me, looked like it was slightly going away from goal?”
Gallagher: “They have to say that. I just think the forward is going away from the goal. He is going to go after the ball; there is no doubt about that.
“But he isn’t in possession of the ball, so he has to gain it. I think as he goes out to the wing, the defender will come across, when he cuts back in, he then has to delay more, and the defender will be back in play. It’s a possible goal-scoring opportunity, but it’s not obvious.”
Bothroyd: “It is. But again, this is the opinion of an official. He believes that the defender is going to get back.
“For me, I am looking at that, and I am saying, ‘That forward is rapid.’ I think he is going to get the ball, and I think he is going to have a shot.”
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