Dermot Gallagher gives his honest verdict on the decisions made during Celtic’s loss vs Hearts

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Celtic were involved in three controversial incidents over the weekend in their 2-0 defeat away to Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership.

First of all, Hyunjun Yang was awarded a penalty early on after being caught in a tangle with Alex Cochrane, leading to Adam Idah spurning an opportunity to put the visitors ahead.

Of course, this directly led to the South Korean winger’s dismissal, as he was sent off following a high boot on the same player.

Don Robertson initially booked Yang for his challenge before being summoned to the monitor and changing his decision to a straight red card.

In the lead-up to the interval, Tomoki Iwata was then penalised for a handball in the area despite looking in the opposite direction, which resulted in Jorge Grant clinically dispatching from the spot to give Steven Naismith’s side the advantage.

Lawrence Shankland guaranteed three points in the 56th minute by drilling a low strike past Joe Hart; however, Brendan Rodgers was incensed post-match and let rip at the officiating on display.

He stated: “I never like to comment on officials; it’s not something I do. But that cost us today. The officiating from on the field to John Beaton being in VAR, that was really, really poor.”

Dermot Gallagher drops verdict on Hearts vs Celtic decisions

Former referee Dermot Gallagher has been speaking on Sky Sports’ latest edition of Ref Watch, giving a run down of the decisions that were made in the Bhoys’ 2-0 loss at Tynecastle.

The Irishman signalled his belief that Celtic were lucky to be given an early penalty, signalling that he thought a foul should’ve actually been given the other way.

Gallagher said when asked if he thought the award was harsh: “Extremely. I actually thought it was a foul the other way, but the referee gave it.

“Cochrane was in front so I find it hard to see how he commits the foul. All I can think is, when you see the other angle, whether the referee thinks he trips him there, I don’t know. But I think the Celtic player goes into Cochrane himself.”

He then opined that Yang’s red card was the right call, as he added: “I think the player is unlucky, but I think it is a red card. I think the player is unlucky because he has no idea where the player is and he’s genuinely going in to the get the ball.

“But if you catch a player in the face with your studs, it’s inevitable you’re going to get a red card.” Gallagher continued later: “I just think if you’re going to catch someone with your studs in the face, and the bloke is stood up as well, you’re going to get a red card.”

Finishing off, the 66-year-old claimed Iwata was harshly punished for a handball, explaining: “I think so [when asked if the decision was harsh].

“But what you would say is, we’ve seen this in the Scottish league all season. The one thing they’ve been consistent about, any incident like that has been penalised for handball. I think harsh, very, very unlucky. But to their credit, every single one they’ve given.”

Celtic fans will feel aggrieved by the defeat at Tynecastle

Celtic fans have a right to feel aggrieved following some questionable outcomes that went against their side at Tynecastle, which will likely dominate the headlines for days to come.

As frustrating as the Bhoys’ performance with ten men was, one can’t help but wonder if the game would’ve panned out differently if Robertson had stuck with his original decision not to send Yang off.

Either way, we will never know, and the full focus at Parkhead now turns to a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against Livingston this Sunday.