Celtic were the beneficiaries of a VAR decision in this evening’s game against St Mirren. Towards the end of the first half, Yoyosi Olusanya attempted to get on the end of a cross when his boot struck Joe Hart’s face. The Celtic goalkeeper was brave to punch the ball clear as David Munro blew for a free-kick and flashed a yellow card.
Steven McLean on VAR told Munro to pause the restart before instructing the referee to take a look at the incident. Replays showed that the forward’s leg was straight, his studs were up and it was obviously high. It was clearly putting Joe Hart at risk.
The first half flash point is similar to a decision that Celtic were on the wrong end of last season but, again, it was the correct call.
Going back to December 2022, Celtic faced St Johnstone in the Premiership. The Scottish Champions were in control as Ange Postecoglou’s side entered the final stages of the game with Turnbull coming from the bench to make his mark; however, he was shown a red card. The Scottish midfielder collided with Saints keeper Remi Matthews in the game’s dying stages, resulting in Matthews receiving treatment and referee Kevin Clancy flashing a yellow card in Turnbull’s direction. VAR Official Mike Roncone was in Clancy’s ear and directed the man in the middle to go pitchside and look at it for himself. Clancy obliged and cancelled the yellow before showing the red card to Turnbull.
Officials in the country get a hard time at the best of times but there is little to gain by digging them up when they make the correct decisions.