Hibs boss David Gray makes his VAR feelings perfectly clear with ‘joke’ after win over Celtic

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David Gray led Hibs to a rare win against Celtic at Easter Road.

Celtic fell victim to a VAR call at Hibs that cost Brendan Rodgers at least a point at Easter Road as the Bhoys suffered their second defeat of the season.

Daizen Maeda’s goal was ruled out after VAR stepped in and adjudged that the ball had crossed the Hibs byeline before Celtic defender Alistair Johnston made his cross into the penalty box.

Brendan Rodgers raged at the Celtic decision but Hibs boss, David Gray had a slightly different view of the incident.

• READ MORE: Pat Nevin spotted what the linesman did just before Daizen Maeda’s disallowed Celtic goal vs Hibs

David Gray ‘delighted’ as Hibs boss suggests VAR got Celtic decision correct

Gray was obviously delighted to secure the win against Celtic and he had every right to be. However, at a time when pundits are unanimous about VAR’s decision to chalk off the Hoops goal, the Hibs boss seems to suggest the video referee made the right call.

Gray told Premier Sports, “I’m delighted the groundsman’s painted the line in a straight line this one and with the pitch the size it is, because it must be really close.

“Obviously, I can joke about it now and look and smile back on it, but these are the breaks you need as well.

“That’s very fine margins at this level. And then on another day, you get there a fraction earlier and the ball stays in.

“We can also defend it a lot better in that moment as well. But I think we needed that little bit of luck and you do need to carry a little bit of luck as well when you’re going against teams like Celtic so all in all, I’m delighted for everyone.”

Hopefully, Gray can provide the evidence to back up his assertion that the ball went out of play because even 24 hours later, most people are in agreement that there was no way a factual call could be made.

Three other occasions VAR affected Celtic this season

Celtic have been on the end of VAR calls since the technology was voted into Scottish football back in 2022.

But this season alone, there are three other occasions (yes, there have been more) where the video referee affected Celtic in the past few weeks either positively or negatively.

Celtic had a goal ruled out against Motherwell after Adam Idah was adjudged to have been offside until VAR stepped in to ensure the goal was correctly awarded.

Interstingly, VAR didn’t get involved in a potential Celtic red card call against Ross County where Alistair Johnston was accused of denying a goalscoring opportunity against The Staggies.

And finally, bizarrely VAR was taken out of the picture entirely in Celtic’s win over St Mirren after a power cut rendered the video referee useless.

The point is, some decisions go for teams, and some go against them, but at least the important ones are taken with definitive video proof which wasn’t apparent at Easter Road yesterday afternoon.