Martin O’Neill is simply not having the decision to send off Reo Hatate in Celtic’s draw with Bologna.
The Hoops earned a point in a hard-fought performance as Celtic’s draw with Bologna keeps Europa League knockout football alive.
Celtic now sit on eight points, but it could, and probably should, have been another famous win in Italy had Reo Hatate not seen red in the first half.
WHAT AN EFFORT! Great point or wasted opportunity?
And as O’Neill rues a missed opportunity to create more Celtic history in Europe, the Hoops boss was not convinced Hatate should have been sent off.
Martin O’Neill laments Reo Hatate red card as ‘innocuous’
At first glance, it looked like Hatate could have no complaints as Celtic were reduced to 10 men.
However, that’s not the view of O’Neill who appeared annoyed at the call despite the Celtic boss watching it back.
O’Neill told Celtic TV, “Well, I’ve seen it back, which I didn’t see at the time. I thought it was really innocuous. I still think it is.
“I don’t think that Reo meant to foul him. I think he was being held back to begin with, and he swings around a little bit petulantly in that sense.
“But that wasn’t the reason for it. He was actually stamping in the lad’s foot. Now, I think it was completely accidental.”
Martin O’Neill reveals Reo Hatate’s apology to Celtic teammates
Hatate must have felt awful, and it appears he did as O’Neill shares the Japan midfielder’s reaction to his Celtic teammates.
O’Neill continued, “However, I think really, when you’ve just been booked before that there, you should try and kind of stay out of it, because the ball looked as if it was going to go out of play.
“Never mind anything else, it is incredibly frustrating. Reo has apologised profusely to us all, but listen, at the end of it all, if we had him for the rest of the game until they got really, really tired, I think we would have won.”
Any Celtic fan would have taken a draw against Bologna before the game kicked off tonight.
With the chance of qualifying from the group still in Celtic’s hands, supporters will be delighted that the next fixture is at Celtic Park.
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