Aberdeen were lucky not to have a man sent off against Celtic on Sunday afternoon after Slobodan Rubezic’s reckless challenge on Kyogo Furuhashi.
With Celtic 2-0 up and cruising in the match, Rubezic steamed in head-first on the Japanese forward, wiping him out and leaving him prone on the pitch.
The Serbian was shown a yellow card but, unbelievably, this wasn’t upgraded to a red upon VAR review.
The incident even had Aberdeen supporters such as Willie Miller left aghast live on BBC Radio Scotland, who called on somebody at the club to have a word with the defender.
Pundits slam Aberdeen player for Kyogo challenge
Miller said: “Somebody needs to tell Slobodan Rubezic to calm down. It’s dangerous and out of control. It’s a common occurrence with him. He was never going to get the ball.”
Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner added on the station: “He’s gone with intent there, there’s no question. He’s gone in dangerously from well away from Kyogo, with pace and power. He was never going to get the ball.”
Kyogo had to be substituted off for Hyeongyu Oh after the incident and he will now be assessed to find out if he’s fit enough to head off on World Cup qualifying duty with Japan.
Rubezic was subsequently booed by the Celtic home support, making it very clear what they thought of his antics. The usually friendly Bhoys star also appeared to refuse the handshake of his opponent as he left the field.
Thankfully, Kyogo had already managed to net his eighth goal of the season in the first half. He’s the club’s top scorer in all competitions and hopefully he is back fighting fit after this international break.
In other news, the three big talking points from today’s 6-0 Celtic win over Aberdeen.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
