Celtic’s penalty award against Motherwell on Boxing Day made headlines after Aston Oxborough was deemed to have fouled Hyunjun Yang inside the area.
Post-match, Stuart Kettlewell lamented the decision to award Celtic a penalty, claiming the decision was ‘incredibly soft’ as his side fell to a 4-0 defeat at Parkhead.
Arne Engels duly stepped up to do the honours, helping his side move 12 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after Rangers lost out to St Mirren in the evening kick-off.
Decisions that go the way of Celtic rarely fail to cause a stir and an external narrative has emerged from another moment the Bhoys have no real control over.
In light of this, the SFA’s Key Match Indicent panel have shared what they thought of the decision following another convincing win for the defending champions.
What SFA panel said about Celtic penalty award vs Motherwell
The SFA KMI panel shared their findings from a busy Boxing Day full of compelling action, offering a clear interpretation of Oxborough’s foul on Yang that led to a spot-kick.
Unsurprisingly, the call received unanimous backing by five to nil and was deemed as something VAR couldn’t get involved in as there was no ‘clear and obvious error’ to overturn.
They stated: “The panel unanimously agreed that the onfield decision was supportable. The panel highlighted that this was not a decision for VAR to get involved as it could not be deemed a clear and obvious error.”
Motherwell stopper Oxborough has since admitted there was contact on Yang, but felt it was soft to award a penalty for his challenge.
Celtic move on from latest referee flashpoint
At the end of the day, Celtic have nothing to answer for after rightfully being awarded a penalty for a challenge inside the area that impeded Yang’s chances of scoring.
Of course, the extent of contact has created room for conversation, but in the modern day, it was always going to be given in line with the rules of the game.
Moving on, Celtic will be firmly focused on defeating St Johnstone tomorrow to complete an unbeaten year on home soil.
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