Celtic

Celtic: Referee denies goalscoring opportunity with questionable Matt O’Riley decision

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Image for Celtic: Referee denies goalscoring opportunity with questionable Matt O’Riley decision

The referee may have made a big mistake in the most recent Celtic match after he wrongly penalised Matt O’Riley for a foul just when the midfielder looked to have created a goalscoring opportunity. 

In their latest Scottish Premiership fixture, the Bhoys faced up against Ross County at home with the hopes of stretching their lead at the top of the league.

However, after a tight first half in which Celtic failed to score, the away team were awarded a penalty after the ball hit the hand of O’Riley from close range, with David Cancola finishing the chance coolly.

Even so, the Hoops could have taken the lead long before that, as in the 7th minute, O’Riley won the ball cleanly in a dangerous area and looked to have set his teammate through on goal.

However, the referee opted to blow for a foul and deny the home side a huge chance to take the lead – as displayed in this footage shared online.

TIF Thoughts on the referee’s decision and Celtic…

Seeing as the foul was made outside the box and the referee blew right away, VAR couldn’t intervene to overrule it. Had the referee allowed play to continue and Celtic scored, the technology would still have had the chance to review the decision.

Was it a foul?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Had that been the case, it seems unlikely that the goal would have been disallowed, seeing as O’Riley seems to win the ball fairly from the Ross County player.

In the end, though, the referee’s decision was final, so the attacking opportunity quickly came to an end and took the matter out of the VAR’s hands. No doubt, this would have been a source of huge frustration for manager Ange Postecoglou and the rest of his side as they were still chasing a lead at that moment, so this could have been far more costly had they not turned the game around.

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Interesting first question, how many Celtic fans were inside Ibrox?

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