The penalty row that has overshadowed Celtic’s League Cup final win over Rangers continues to rumble on.
Rıdvan Yılmaz was in tears moments after Celtic’s victory over Rangers after his penalty was saved, but the tears are still flowing for those in Rangers colours days after the six-goal Hampden thriller.
It all stems around Liam Scales’ foul on Vaclav Cerny and how the opposition should have had a penalty in extra-time, rather than just a free-kick.
The cries are around how Cerny’s foot was on the line and how that was enough to award a spot-kick as Scales was tugging on his shirt, but VAR didn’t send on-field referee, John Beaton to his monitor.
Since then, the head of referees Willie Collum has come out and given his penny’s worth on this matter when talking on the VAR Review show.
And Neil Lennon has reacted to it all.
Neil Lennon tells Rangers to ‘move on’ after Willie Collum’s comments on Celtic ‘penalty’ row
Collum has stated that the incident should have been ‘considered a penalty kick’ and it should have been a ‘factual overturn’.
But Lennon thinks someone of Collum’s standing should be present in games of his magnitude, as he described it all as ‘unacceptable’.
As Rangers watched Celtic lift another trophy, Lennon also told those at Ibrox to ‘move on’ from this incident.
“If Willie is saying that, then it’s unacceptable,” said Lennon. “You have two or three officials watching the game and slowing it down. It’s a cup final. These decisions have to be right.
“Willie has fronted it up, come out and said ‘yes, it’s unacceptable’ and I agree with him, so it has to be better. It’s alright having the Monday morning quarterback routine and calling these things out in hindsight, but they should be getting it right on the day. We were talking off-air, if Willie is the head of the referees, then, for me, should he not be there? For a big game especially. Willie or somebody of a senior standard in the referee association.
On if it’s time for Rangers to move on: “They will have to,” added Lennon. “They put in a great performance. They have closed the gap. There will be regrets about it. It’s done now and you have to use that as a motivation, I suppose.”
Lennon reacts to claims of ‘bias’ after Celtic’s win over Rangers
It won’t be too long before Celtic and Rangers meet again – on January 2 for a Premiership showdown at Ibrox.
You can bet your bottom dollar that this penalty row will rumble on until after the New Year and perhaps the Gers fans will also blame it for being 11 points behind the champions.
Saying that, Lennon responded to the chief executive of the SFA, Ian Maxwell, coming out and having to defend accusations of ‘bias’, as he had a clear message.
“It’s always a natural instinct after a game of this magnitude and you know the rivalry,” responded Lennon to bias claims.
“I think it’s difficult to blame the head of the SFA for a decision that is made on the pitch, at that moment in time. We were told for many years and you wouldn’t like to think there is any sort of bias at all.
“For me, it’s not bias. It’s just incompetence.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
