No drama with SFA’s Key Match Incident report regarding Axton Oxborough’s challenge on Yang as the panel delivered a unanimous verdict…
Celtic comfortably dispatched Motherwell on Thursday afternoon 4-0, but unsurprisingly, like so often this season, Stuart Kettlewell made tiresome excuses post-match deflecting away from his side being well beaten which included taking a swipe at referee Ross Hardie for awarding a penalty to the Hoops on the stroke of half-time.
Penalty was correctly awarded
When Celtic winger Yang Hyun-jun got to the ball in front of Motherwell keeper Aston Oxborough, the 26 year-old English shotstopper quite clearly made contact with the attacker giving Hardie no option but to point to the spot.
Laughably, Kettlewell in an interview with Sky Sports yesterday morning insisted he was “flabbergasted,” by the decision and according to the Steelman boss it was the “softest of all penalties.”
This is indeed the same Motherwell manager who reckoned there was nothing to see following Liam Gordon’s disgraceful ‘tackle’ on Adam Idah earlier this season at Fir Park.
Dermot Gallacher: “Has to be a penalty”
On Sky Sports regular sequel ‘Ref Watch,’ where former English Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher analyses the key incidents of matches in England and the Scottish Premiership, Gallagher believed it, “has to be a penalty.”
🗣️ “If that’s a full-back making this challenge it’s going to be a penalty all day, so it has to be a penalty…”
Dermot Gallagher says Motherwell shouldn’t be complaining about the penalty they conceded in their 4-0 defeat at Celtic 🔽 pic.twitter.com/UgZGTMWQPg
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 27, 2024
SFA’s very own ‘Key Match Incident’ panel saw it the same way. In their notes on the incident to which it was a unanimous 5:0 agreement with whistler Ross Hardie, they explained: “The panel unanimously agreed that the onfield decision was supportable. The panel highlighted that this was a decision for VAR to get involved as it could not be deemed a clear and obvious error.”
Two Daizen Maeda incidents
However, bizarrely there was no mention of two penalty incident involving Daizen Maeda in the first or second half — firstly for a clear boot in the head, and then a push in the back from Dan Casey that would be given as a foul anywhere else on the pitch.
Perhaps Celtic should write a strongly worded statement, wheel Michael Nicholson out in front of the cameras or demand Ian Maxwell makes a comment on the incidents. All three would suffice.
Despite there being five errors in KMI’s previous report, there were none for the full Boxing Day Scottish Premiership fixture card. The panel reviewed eight incidents across the six games with seven of the eight calls receiving a 5:0 majority in favour of the onfield decision and one where it was 4:1.
People all over Europe laugh at theRangers
Even the St Mirren penalty awarded against theRangers was deemed to be the correct decision despite people all over Europe laughing their heads off about the goalkeeper staying on the park after that rugby tackle by Jack Butland.
Conor Spence
There was no evidence whatsoever to say the mib had made a mistake in awarding the penalty, so decision couldn’t be overturned, no matter how hard VAR looked?
Yet plenty of evidence available for both incidents involving Maeda, which were fairly straightforward, and yet both ignored?
If any club should have grievances regarding VAR, then it still remains ourselves?
Of course it won’t be highlighted, but that still doesn’t explain how we can be classed as the ones who benefit from VAR the most?
Another scum lie, that should be squashed, especially in a season where we are dismantling the scum lies one by one