Celtic’s Tynecastle goal hero Greg Taylor has given an insight into the experience of scoring whilst under the watchful eye of VAR after his winner sank Hearts yesterday.
The full-back has been in inspired form for Ange Postecoglou’s side so far this season, but had never scored in the league until he followed in fellow-substitute Liel Abada’s deflected cross yesterday.
It was the first of his three goals so far for the club to receive a VAR check but Taylor insisted that he wasn’t waiting for the review to celebrate what could be a huge moment in Celtic’s season, even after the game had been largely dominated by the technology’s less-than-stellar Premiership introduction.
As reported by The Daily Express, he said: “It was a great feeling and in that moment you don’t worry if the goal is going to be alright. Euphoria takes over your body.
“For some reason, you knew VAR was going to have a bearing. It was typical it was going to have an effect and it did to some extent, but it did not have a bearing on the result because we managed to get the win. To be honest, both of Hearts’ penalties were pens.”
“Equally the handball could be one for us, but the ref intimated VAR said it was close to his body. What can you say?”
Taylor was philosophical about VAR’s impact despite a ropey introduction to the Scottish Premiership, and was positive that things will improve after yesterday’s shambles.
He said: “As we get used to the virtual ref more, hopefully it will help the officials and will become a tool to improve the standard of our game. We want to play quick and exciting football and don’t want the disruption.
“But equally, if there are going to be stoppages you hope they are for the right reason.”
VAR steals the headlines but Celtic steal the points on day of high drama
Whilst VAR will rightly hog the headlines on a day that has set a dreadful precedent for the technology’s success in Scotland, Celtic made sure that they didn’t allow themselves to be caught up in the chaos and found a way to victory, despite facing considerable opposition along the way.
It’s entirely typical of Celtic under Postecoglou this season and last, who have generally found a way to produce results, even when faced with difficult circumstances, and yesterday was just the latest example of their remarkable mental fortitude and and unflinching belief in their manager’s philosophy.
It’s a quality that’s set them in great stead to build on last season’s success, with a deeper squad and more quality on the pitch and off, everything looks positive for the champions going into a huge six games before the World Cup, starting with Tuesday’s crucial Champions League showdown with Shakhtar Donetsk..
In other news: Celtic’s superiority over flailing Rangers evident after day of VAR drama
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