Celtic became the first team into the Scottish League Cup final this weekend after a professional 1-0 win over defending champions St Johnstone.
James Forrest came off the bench to score the only goal of the game just minutes after his introduction, proving Ange Postecoglou to be a genius!
Despite the celebrations of reaching their first final under Postecoglou, the affair was overshadowed by the referee. He booked Shaun Rooney for what appeared to be a deliberate elbow on Stephen Welsh – such was the force of the ‘challenge’ the Celtic defender had to leave the field.
This left the Celtic fans outraged by the decision from the referee, and below is a snippet of their reaction.
How the Celtic fans reacted
“The elbow on Welsh should be a red. Funny he only gave a yellow, absolutely shocking.” @1888_Celticbhoy
“Walsh is a disgrace of a ref. Welsh assaulted with a flying elbow. A yellow card shown? Do that in the street and it’s three months in the clink!” @BrianWy05654110
“Should have been a red. Cowardly challenge.” @WeStoodatNo1
“St Johnstone offered nothing but elbows.” @Slimshady1961
“How that wasn’t a red card for the elbow to Welsh’s coupon is beyond me.” @bigrowan68
“Ref obviously wasn’t listening to the speech when he let Rooney off with a deliberate elbow to Welsh’s face.” @Derikri46434667
“A scandalous decision to issue a yellow card for that if you see that properly it can only be a red card” @kenadams68
While Rooney should have seen red for his challenge, the topic of VAR has certainly taken over the semi-final. Celtic’s goal may have been chalked off for a handball in the build-up had VAR been in operation.
However, the Celtic fans will argue it’s evened itself out as Rooney was a lucky boy not to be sent for an early bath! Obviously an error each doesn’t balance the tie perfectly, but both fans feel hard done by.
Did the referee get both calls wrong?