Celtic endured a frustrating afternoon at Tynecastle yesterday as Heart of Midlothian claimed a 2-0 victory over Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Nobody likes refereeing displays to take centre stage on a showpiece occasion; however, that is exactly what happened, and the latest debacle surrounding VAR will ensue over the coming days.
Hyunjun Yang earned an early penalty for the visitors following a tangle with Alex Cochrane in the area, leaving Adam Idah with a chance to open the scoring.
Nevertheless, the Republic of Ireland international couldn’t convert, with his low strike saved by the trailing leg of Zander Clark, setting the scene for a series of unfortunate events.
South Korea international Yang was sent off mere moments later for a high challenge on Cochrane, which was upgraded from an initial yellow card to a straight red following an intervention from VAR that sent Don Robertson to the monitor.
Just before half-time, Tomoki Iwata was penalised for handball despite being turned away from the ball and nudged in conjunction, leading even the likes of Kris Boyd to label the judgement call as an ‘awful decision’ by the powers that be.
Jorge Grant slotted away confidently, and Lawrence Shankland went on to make sure of the points early in the second half; nevertheless, Celtic didn’t show an awful lot of cutting edge with ten men and are now left to lick their wounds ahead of a Scottish Cup tie at home to Livingston this weekend.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers opens up on Adam Idah’s penalty
Despite the fact there will be plenty of negative sentiment towards the officials, Celtic also complicated matters for themselves by not taking a golden chance to go in front from the spot.
Unfortunately, Idah was the man who couldn’t convert on this occasion; however, Hoops manager Rodgers has refused to pin the blame on the Irishman, which is fair enough, considering we probably wouldn’t be in a title race without his recent exploits.
Rodgers delivered an honest verdict on his miss, stating [The Celtic Way]: “We have to look at ourselves for that (the penalty miss). In fairness to Adam he’s done the right thing, he just needed to lift it a bit more.
“He decided to go down the middle and didn’t get it as high as he wanted. They made the save and in that little spell we lost a man so we take responsibility for that.”
Adam Idah shouldn’t be the fall guy for Celtic’s defeat to Hearts
Granted, Idah should’ve done better when given the opportunity to convert, though he has exceeded expectations since arriving at Parkhead in January.
The Republic of Ireland international has registered five goals and one assist in his opening seven appearances for the club, including last-minute exploits away to Hibernian and Motherwell [Transfermarkt].
As we all know, penalties have proved to be the Hoops’ kryptonite this season, and there is a wider discussion to be had regarding our inability to strike home from 12 yards.
Idah will be as frustrated as anyone by Clark’s save from the spot; nevertheless, he shouldn’t become a scapegoat or anything like that, given the promise he has shown since joining.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
