Both Celtic and theRangers slipped up in the title race yesterday, and both games weren’t without their controversy, with two flashpoints being clearly highlighted in the aftermath of yet another dramatic day of football in the Scottish Premiership…
Both incidents were worthy of being magnified, but only one seems to be getting serious attention, and ironically it’s the one that has been proven to be the correct call.
The Ibrox side and their supporters seem to be agitated that they were refused an injury time spot kick, which would have given them a chance of winning a game they were so nearly in danger of losing.
But after a closer inspection it evident it wasn’t an offence worthy of a spot kick, although admittedly they should have had a free kick, with their opponents handed a red card. But VAR as we know can’t intervene in such a situation.
Despite their constant protestations, they have only themselves to blame for dropping points, and besides they had already been fortunate enough to have played the last half an hour against ten men, not to mention benefiting from an over generous amount of added on time.
In despite of all these points, the Bears and their chums in the Scottish mainstream media have been complaining of ‘foul play’ once again, when in fact it’s the green half of Glasgow who have been on the wrong side of things.
📸 A freeze-frame of the incident involving Rangers’ Mikey Moore at the end of their draw at Livingston, which shows it took place outside the box ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/qamjZqyWW3
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 22, 2026
theRangers game was live on SKY, so naturally it will have been given more attention, but cameras were also in use at Celtic Park, and it was clearly evident that we were unjustly denied the opportunity of going ahead at such a vital stage of the game. So there is no excuse to highlight our plight in the same manner.
Listen, we weren’t good enough on the day, and Auston Trusty’s moment of madness contributed to our own downfall, but that doesn’t mean we can’t highlight a clear injustice.
Liam Scales was clearly impeded as he challenged for the ball at a corner kick, and it was by the letter of the law a penalty kick. I like thousands of others seen it clearly in real time, so why didn’t the on field officials, or their colleagues on VAR pick up on the incident, it was the proverbial ‘stonewaller’.
Blatant foul and shirt pull on Liam Scales, where he would’ve ended up in the area where the Hibs player headers it.
It is as clear a penalty as you will ever see. pic.twitter.com/HqqJVnVWo1
— Celtic Thoughts (@celtic_thoughts) February 22, 2026
If you watch the incident closely you will see the referee look way over to where the ball is coming from so misses the pull on Scales’ shirt. The Celtic defender goes down and the ball is headed out by the Hibs player for a corner – decision: goal kick.
But what about VAR to all our amazement it was cleared in under a minute, with the explanation bizarrely being given that the incident was committed outside the box!! We can only hope it was a glitch in the graphics, or Willie Collum has a helluva lot of explaining to do on that one as there were clearly no Hibs players outside their box to commit a foul!
Either way, it will be interesting to hear the excuse Collum offers for his men’s ’honest mistake’ especially if they can deem Auston Trusty’s challenge against Hearts as a red, then the obstruction on Scales has got to be viewed in the same manner.
Not on the context that it was an ordering off offence, but the fact it was a viewed as a foul. One can’t be deemed an offence and the other not after all. We wait with great interest to hear their explanation…
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
Introducing The Celtic Star App and our new ad-free Premium Service...
Go ad-free on The Celtic Star, get a FREE trial period to try it out. Also download our new App – available for both Apple and Android – and get the best Celtic content on your phone without fighting through pop-up ads and being forced to watch videos.
Our new PREMIUM service comes with a free seven-day trial so you can look before you book. If you are happy to continue the price will be just 99p per month or £9.99 for the year. For that you get an AD-FREE SITE plus access to our premium content, and you’ll also help us make The Celtic Star even better and less reliant on advertising revenues, allowing us to be more focused on publishing the best Celtic features on the internet.
Click HERE to access your FREE trial. We think you’ll like it! We’re Obsessed with Celtic and we think you are too! Join us hand in hand...
Don’t hold your breath waiting for an explanation or should it be excuse. Var should be scrapped.
No way var should be scrapped. That takes us back to honest mistakes, with no accountability. What needs done is the var officials to be made accountable, it is cheating in plain view get it sorted.
WE WILL NOT GET THE TRUTH FROM THE REFS, WOULD THEY BE WILLING TO TAKE A POLYGRAPH TEST ?
Such good liars would probably fool a lie dector.
Club needs tae call it out for what it is, but they never do.
It’s been happenin forever.
Compare Trusty red tae any of aboot 3 shoves, elbows etc theRangers did against us & zero action taken then.
Lie and cheat and they’re never held to account, so just continue.
SFA are a joke!