It was another difficult day for Celtic supporters this season after the Bhoys failed to beat Hearts at Tynecastle in the Scottish Premiership.
Jorge Grant scored from the penalty spot before the interval and Lawrence Shankland struck in the second half to fire the home side to a 2-0 victory.
It was a contentious and dramatic 90 minutes. Refereeing decisions are under significant scrutiny, especially the handball call against Tomoki Iwata that allowed Grant to net the spot kick.
Hyunjun Yang was also sent off in the first half, giving a ten-man Celtic side an uphill battle to secure a result before they even went behind.
Ultimately, the Bhoys missed their big chance to go back to the top of the table after Rangers were defeated on Saturday. It’s a big let-off for our rivals.
Brendan Rodgers delivers verdict on Celtic defeat to Hearts
Brendan Rodgers gave his view on Sky Sports after the match and didn’t hold back, stating: “Firstly, I’ll give credit to my players because they fought from the very first whistle and made a real competitive game of it.
“I never like to comment on officials, it’s not something I do. But that cost us today. The officiating from on the field, to John Beaton being in VAR, that was really, really poor.
“I look at the first incident, if you put a still on that then of course it looks dangerous but that’s not the reality of the move, there’s no force there. The ball pops up. It’s a booking. That was really disappointing to go down to ten men.
“But to receive the penalty against us. Wow, that was even worse. If you watch it, Tomoki has jumped, he’s on his way down, he’s not looking and he’s been nudged which then pushes his arm out. If that’s a penalty you’ll have penalties in every single game.
“That there is absolutely shocking decision-making. I feel really disappointed, one for the players and two for our supporters.
“I thought the officials were very, very poor. You’ll have to ask John Beaton in VAR what he’s seeing. If he’s seeing that as dangerous play and handball then he’s probably seeing something different to everyone else. Unless you’re connected with Hearts, of course. I just think they’re seeing a different game.”
Don Robertson is also culpable given he made the final decision after being called over to the VAR monitor, so Beaton isn’t the only man who deserves criticism.
Rodgers has never gone after officials like this in his time in Scotland so it’s telling that he has made such strong comments this afternoon.
There will be a lot more to run on all this after the drama but the Celtic manager has made it clear that what he witnessed from the refs today is unacceptable. As he is right to do.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
