Michael Stewart ‘lost for words’ at the ‘big incident’ that occurred during Celtic’s win vs St Mirren

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That was an eventful evening of football for Celtic in Paisley.

Stephen Robinson’s men put on some fight on their own turf, but in the end, Celtic beat St Mirren by netting five goals, including some late strikes by the soon-to-be-champions.

With Rangers losing Barry Ferguson’s first home game in charge against Motherwell – oh, what a laugh – it now means Celtic’s lead at the top of the Premiership table is 16 points.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	29	24	3	2	87	17	70	75
2	RangersRangers	29	18	5	6	59	26	33	59
3	AberdeenAberdeen	28	12	5	11	36	44	-8	41
4	HibernianHibernian	28	10	10	8	42	39	3	40

Brendan Rodgers’ side have conceded a fair few goals on the road of late, including four in their last two away Premiership matches.

The issue against St Mirren is that it could and probably should have been a lot worse, only for some heroic defending, top-class goalkeeping and poor finishing from the home side, stating otherwise.

Hyunjun Yang netted a brace off the bench, including one to make it 3-2, before Daizen Maeda netted the fourth and Yang finished things off in stoppage-time.

But Michael Stewart thinks and feels things should have been much different during a crucial stage of the game.

READ MORE: Chris Sutton trolls ‘Bazball’ as Rangers lose again to leave Celtic on title brink

Michael Stewart baffled by St Mirren’s ‘crazy’ penalty call against Celtic

The man who felt he was on the end of a bad challenge from Alistair Johnston was St Mirren substitute, Roland Idowu.

Stewart explained that he was ‘laughing’ at VAR not awarding a penalty and how he was also ‘lost for words’, as he told Sportscene.

Cammy Bell was also weighing in on the non-awarding of the penalty and how it was a ‘big incident’ because Celtic were leading 3-2, at the time, before Maeda worked his magic.

“Certainly, at the stage of the game as well, it was 3-2,” said Cammy Bell. “That’s why, for me, this is such a big incident. I can’t see why VAR haven’t intervened and haven’t given a penalty.

“It’s a stonewaller, for me. He doesn’t touch the ball. He goes clean through. That’s a dangerous challenge.”

Stewart added: “I am just laughing. It’s crazy. You saw the penalty in the first half, which was a penalty kick.

“But there was more contact in that and I am lost for words. I don’t understand why VAR hasn’t looked at it.”

Why St Mirren weren’t awarded a penalty against Celtic

This penalty incident wasn’t just discussed on the BBC post-match, but by the Sky Sports pundits as well.

During those discussions, Sky presenter Eilidh Barbour explained the reason why VAR deemed it a fair challenge and why the on-field referee wasn’t asked to go to his monitor to check the challenge.

“VAR looked at it, but they think there is enough contact on the ball,” said Barbour

Celtic fans will point towards the Bayern Munich game and how Arne Engels wasn’t given a penalty when many felt he should have done.

Yes, European referees act very differently – and are, at times, much harsher – than those on the domestic stage.

But you suppose Willie Collum’s VAR Review Show will reveal all when the weekend’s football is concluded because this incident will most certainly be discussed.