Benjamin Nygren said exactly what most Celtic supporters were already thinking after the fallout from Hyun-jun Yang’s equaliser against Rangers.
The South Korean levelled the scores with a tidy finish but the goal stirred up debate on whether Nygren was impeding Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland while in an offside position.
The Swedish attacker had no interest in entertaining the debate after Celtic’s 3-1 Glasgow Derby win, especially after VAR reviewed the incident and allowed the goal to stand.
How good has Yang been this past month?
Nygren shut the Rangers argument down immediately
Nygren was standing in an offside position when Yang fired Celtic level at Parkhead, with Rangers claiming Jack Butland’s view had been blocked.
But the Celtic attacker made it clear he never believed the goal was in danger.
He said: “I didn’t even think of it in the moment. I guess if I was standing in front of the keeper, I would have thought about it, and I didn’t.
“I just watched it on the big screen after we scored the goal, but I guess if it was something, then there’s VAR and they check it. If they didn’t say anything, then it’s a goal and in this case, it was a goal, so I guess it was nothing to argue about.”
That response felt refreshingly straightforward. VAR checked the incident and reached a decision. Celtic then went on to win the game.
Refereeing experts backed the Celtic decision vs Rangers
Nygren’s stance has since been backed up by multiple refereeing voices.
Dermot Gallagher all but settled the debate when reviewing the goal, while Mark Clattenburg also backed the VAR decision after analysing the incident.
Both focused on the same point. Nygren was not interfering with Butland’s ability to attempt a save.
That is why the complaints already feel pointless. Celtic accepted the decision in real time, kept playing, and eventually ran away with the match thanks to Daizen Maeda brilliance that even Martin O’Neill could not stop praising afterwards.
Nygren’s comments summed it up perfectly. VAR reviewed the goal. The officials allowed it to stand. Celtic moved on quickly because there was a match to win.
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