If Celtic vs Aberdeen was a boxing match, it would’ve been called early.
As has become a trend with Wilfried Nancy, the Hoops were wasteful in front of goal, and almost allowed Aberdeen to get away with a heist of a result.
But late goals from Kieran Tierney and James Forrest sealed a much-needed win for Nancy, his first in five matches in charge.
Celtic also dominated the initial stages, opening the scoring through Benjamin Nygren, but a red card for teenage Aberdeen defender Dylan Lobban only continued the pattern of domination.
Some have tried to dispute the decision, which saw Lobban given straight red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity – but the SFA’s Key Match Incident (KMI) panel have set the record straight.
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SFA KMI panel reviews Celtic vs Aberdeen decisions
It wasn’t a game awash with controversial decisions, but this is Scottish football after all.
A challenge from Jesper Karlsson on Callum McGregor was also scrutinised, after mild claims for a penalty from some Celtic players.
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The KMI panel consists of three well-known former players, managers and referees from the Scottish game, and reviews big decisions every week to hold VAR to account.
In the case of Lobban’s red card, there was no need for VAR as the on-field decision eventually stood.
In the case of both the red card and McGregor’s penalty claim, the KMI panel has ruled unanimously in favour of the decision which stood on the day.
It’s been a decision of yet more VAR circus in Scotland, with some absolutely baffling decisions dominating the conversation.
Bobby Madden feels that the panel is pointless, saying that it adds ‘zero value’ to the conversation.
And in the case of two decisions where there wasn’t a great deal of controversy in the first place, it does add somewhat counter-actively add some.
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Jimmy Thelin after Aberdeen’s red card vs Celtic
Even Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin had no complaints over David Dickinson’s decision.
He told BBC Scotland: “We were on the back foot from minute one. Celtic were on top of us. We can do better, how we attack the game this way.
“Then, of course a red card. The start of the second half, we were a bit lucky. Some good saves but also we need some luck. We survived that moment.
“Kjartan [Kjartansson] and Kenan [Bilalovic] did really well in that moment and it gave us a chance to grab a point. We were disappointed after the game because we were so close.
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