Craig Levein refuses to change his mind as he reacts to Auston Trusty’s red card for Celtic at Hearts

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Auston Trusty’s red card proved to be costly for Celtic against Hearts on Sunday at Tynecastle. 

At the time, Celtic were leading 2-1 in what was a scruffy, ugly, and highly-charged game in the capital and against the Premiership leaders.

But Trusty’s sending off, for bringing down Pierre Landry Kabore, would later result in Hearts equalising and keeping the champions of Scotland at arm’s length in the Premiership table.

Many are still debating whether it was the right call to give Trusty his marching orders, as Craig Levein, watching on from the stands, was pretty clear in his thoughts.

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Craig Levein reacts to Auston Trusty’s red card for Celtic against Hearts

Nobody argued against it being a foul, not even the Celtic players. This was all down to what type of chance the Hearts man would have created for himself.

Speaking on Sky Sports Football (25/01/26), Levein was insistent that Kabore would have been able to take a shot off from inside the box, had he not been fouled.

“His next touch is setting him up for a shot,” said Levein. “None of the Celtic players can get back.

“I think he is going to shoot. But whether he scores or not is a different thing altogether. But he would have taken a big touch there into the box, and he would be hitting it first time. 

“I think that’s a really good goalscoring opportunity. The second Celtic player is 20 yards away.”

Levein doesn’t change his mind despite Martin O’Neill fuming with the red card call 

Martin O’Neill was angry at Trusty’s red card, as he felt that it was more in between.

After Levein heard O’Neill’s comments, he still refused to change his mind, despite the Celtic manager criticising the call.

“I think it’s a red card because Pierre Landry Kabore has got really good pace,” added Levein.

“That’s the main thing here for me. He would get to the ball, shift it to his right, and then to his left. Get a shot away before either of those defenders could get back, so for me, it’s the correct decision.”