Celtic fans have been reacting to comments by former referee Keith Hackett over an incident that occurred in their most recent game.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were 3-1 winners over St. Johnstone at the weekend as two goals from Liel Abada and one from Nir Bitton were enough for them to take all three points. However, there was some controversy surrounding the game’s opening goal.
Following some neat build-up play and an impressive save by Saints goalkeeper Elliot Parish, Abada bundled the ball into the net from close range whilst jumping to head the ball in. Replays showed that he did so via the top part of his arm, and speaking to Football Insider about the incident, Hackett claimed that VAR may have ruled out the goal had it been in place.
Hackett said: “It’s definitely hit his arm, though. You cannot score a goal with the hand or arm, even if it’s accidental. I think they are very lucky to not have the goal ruled out. This shows why VAR is needed, it is the answer to that type of incident.
“With VAR, that would have been ruled out. There is no VAR, the referee and assistant cannot guess, therefore it’s not ruled.”
These comments were relayed to fans by the Celtic Insider Facebook page for them to react to, where it generated some interesting responses:
Will Ange lead Celtic to the league this season?
Yes
No
Whilst it wasn’t exactly a monumental decision in the grand scheme of things, you do wonder if something like this might help Scottish football introduce VAR in the future, with the subject being heavily discussed in recent months.
In other news: ‘Puts them in their place’, ‘Different class’ – Many Celtic fans buzz over ‘aggressive’ footage