Joe Hart earned hero status amongst the Celtic fans after three trophy-laden seasons at the club.
The former Celtic goalkeeper was on co-commentary duty in last night’s Hoops win over Young Boys as Brendan Rodgers’ team progressed to the playoffs.
An own goal was enough to seal the win at Celtic Park but it did come at a cost after Daizen Maeda saw red after he lashed out at Young Boys defender, Mohamed Kamara.
The Celtic winger aimed a kick at Kamara and after a VAR review, Maeda was given his marching orders.
However, it seems that there was a VAR double standard applied to Maeda’s punishment as former Celtic hero, Joe Hart pointed out last night.
Joe Hart’s reaction to Daizen Maeda’s red card highlights what Young Boys defender got away with vs Celtic
So what caused the usually mild-mannered Maeda to lash out like that? Hart spotted it as he sounded heartbroken and the winger’s dismissal as the former goalkeeper explained what happened a ‘couple of seconds’ prior.
Hart said on TNT Sports, “Surely not? No!
“Well, look at that isolated incident, of course, he has kicked out, but you have to just play it back a couple of seconds and Kamara has done exactly the same. I know it’s not tit for tat! Oh God.
“It’s a red card, you know, they are rules, you can’t do that. Daizen Maeda knows that.”
Of course, two wrongs don’t make a right but it seems that in this case, the Young Boys’ wrong was overlooked as the match officials applied the rules against Celtic.
Daizen Maeda’s last Champions League red card for Celtic
Celtic fans have seen many of their players get red-carded in the Champions League but for Maeda, this is his second dismissal in Europe’s top competition.
The last time the winger was ordered off was in Celtic’s 6-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid two years ago where many fans thought his red card was over the top.
It was a decision that left Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers incensed as Celtic went on to lose heavily in Madrid.
Maeda will now miss Celtic’s next Champions League fixture against Aston Villa as his one-match ban kicks in.
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