Celtic were unfortunate not to receive a spot-kick during their weekend 2-1 loss to Hibernian, according to Scott Allan and Peter Lovanenkrands…
The contentious incident involving Liam Scales has drawn scrutiny since Sunday. The Hoops defender went down inside the penalty area in the second half after having his shirt pulled by Jack Iredale, but no penalty was awarded.
The match ultimately swung in the visitors’ favour, as Kai Andrews netted the decisive goal following Auston Trusty’s dismissal.
The American was shown a straight red card after striking out at Jamie McGrath, leaving Martin O’Neill’s men a man down for the closing stages.
✅ Hibs’ first win at Celtic Park since 2010
🟥 Trusty sent off after VAR checkHighlights from Hibernian’s 2-1 win at Celtic ⤵️https://t.co/RLi1SRO4Kp
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 22, 2026
Pundit Scott Allan, speaking on BBC Sportscene, said he could sympathise with Martin O’Neill’s anger over the decision, suggesting there was a strong case for Celtic to have been given the penalty.
“He has got a handful, hand on his shirt,” the former Celtic midfielder said. “There’s not much of a pull but we have seen them given this year and I can understand the frustration.”
“Scales has the run on him – usually when someone has the run on you and you see that pull, that’s a sign that you know you’re in danger.”
“‘How can I affect him not getting on the end of the ball?’ and he pulls the shirt, so for me it could have been a penalty.”
Former Ibrox striker Peter Lovenkrands also gave his view of the incident on the programme.
“I think that maybe [the officials]think it’s a toss-up between both of them where they’re giving just as good as each other, trying to pull each other,” he said.
“But it’s one of those ones, had they gave it you wouldn’t have really complained about it either. Because you can see the pull of the jersey so it could have been a penalty.”
No-one has explained the VAR message on the scoreboards at Celtic Park on Sunday either…
Conor Spence
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What about the hand ball and that Rocky guy constantly putting his arms round our striker. C’mon board take action against the SFA
Since when does a team defend a corner outside the box. So the incident was outside the box and Hibs get a goal kick. Make the rules up as you go along.