Those at Celtic may well be frustrated today as they were denied a possible penalty in their most recent game after an opposition player appeared to handle the ball inside the box.
Over the weekend, the Bhoys had to fight hard at home against Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership to claim all three points. Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring only to see Josip Juranovic’s own goal level the scores.
In the end, Reo Hatate’s super strike from distance was enough to hand the home side a 2-1 win on the day, but Callum McGregor’s late red card made for a nervy ending at Celtic Park.
However, things could have been much more comfortable for Celtic had they been awarded a penalty when centre-back Ricki Lamie blocked a cross inside his own box with an outstretched arm – as shown clearly in this footage.
TIF Thoughts on Celtic and the penalty shout…
The ball certainly does hit Lamie on the hand and although it comes at him from a close range, it could be argued that he has raised his arm into an unnatural position in order to prevent the cross from finding its target.
And so, if the SPFL had VAR technology in operation, there is every chance this would have been reviewed, and the referee’s initial decision might have been overturned.
Instead, Motherwell got away with this one and Celtic were then on the end of a harsh decision themselves. Indeed, while captain McGregor could have no complaints about being penalised for his blatant foul late on in the game, manager Ange Postecoglou said a straight red card was harsh as he insisted a covering player meant McGregor wasn’t denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Fortunately, these decisions didn’t cost the Bhoys any points as they clung on for victory – but on another day, these marginal calls could have proved very problematic indeed.
Do you think this was a penalty?
Yes
No
