Referee Kevin Clancy and his VAR team may have made a key mistake as they missed a possible penalty for a foul on Alistair Johnston in the most recent Celtic match.
What’s the latest on VAR and Celtic?
In the Scottish Cup this weekend, the Bhoys travelled to Tynecastle Park as they faced Heart of Midlothian in the quarter-final stage of the competition.
In the end, goals from Aaron Mooy, Kyogo Furuhashi and Cameron Carter-Vickers were enough to hand Ange Postecoglou’s side a comfortable 3-0 win.
However, the scoreline could have looked even healthier had any of the officials been able to spot a possible foul on Johnston inside the Hearts penalty box.
Do you think it was a penalty?
No
Yes
Why did VAR not give Celtic a penalty?
As the footage shared online shows, the Celtic right-back was clearly fouled and he looks to be just inside the box even if it is very tight.
Indeed, Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday fails to get close to the ball but clatters into Johnston and can count himself fortunate not to be punished.
Referee Clancy didn’t spot it live but the VAR technology was in operation for the cup match and so official Willie Collum really should have reviewed the challenge and instructed his colleague to point to the spot as it was an obvious mistake.
The score was still just 1-0 at the time and so this could have potentially been a turning point in the game had Hearts managed to get themselves level.
In the end, Celtic had too much quality for it to matter but Postecoglou still have the right to feel a little aggrieved today.
