Former Hoops player John Hartson was not impressed with what he thought was a “shambolic decision” to deny Scott Sinclair a hat-trick in Celtic’s 3-0 win over Airdrie on Saturday.
Sinclair grabbed a brace whilst Timothy Weah netted his debut goal for the club to seal a place in the next round of the Scottish Cup – but despite the convincing victory, Hartson was clearly fuming over a decision that ruled Sinclair’s third effect offside.
The BT Sport pundit claimed that the decision was not even remotely close to being offside, but he did praise Celtic’s opponents for the way they performed.
“Celtic comfortable winners…Airdrie fought hard…Another shambolic decision to deny Sinclair a hattrick… wasn’t even close. #becomingajoke,” he said on his personal Twitter account.
Celtic comfortable winners.. Airdrie fought hard.. Another shambolic decision to deny Sinclair a Hatrick.. wasn’t even close. #becomingajoke
— John Hartson (@JohnHartson10) January 19, 2019
OPINION
Hartson is completely right to be fuming about the decision that denied Sinclair his third goal of the afternoon. Despite the fact he had scored two goals already, Sinclair was incorrectly ruled offside after following in Oliver Burke’s shot. However, despite it being the wrong call, it did not have an impact on the result in the slightest. The Hoops were by far the dominant side and having a goal ruled out would not have mattered. Sinclair was superb, as was new signing Weah. Eyebrows may have been raised after his signing, but he certainly proved some of them wrong in what was a convincing performance. It may not have been against a side in the same league as them – that is a test that he is yet to overcome – but it is promising to see him get off to a good note. Hartson is correct to be angry, just like the many Celtic fans – but at least it did not result in a loss for his old team.