It has been a tough season for Celtic on all fronts. And with them sitting 23 points behind the Rangers in the Premiership table, it is safe to say that their quest to complete a historic 10IAR is as good as over now.
Even then, there is pride to play for and hopefully cut down that lead to a point where it is at least respectable. The lack of any pressure also provides them with the opportunity to give a chance to some players who have not exactly shined this season. One of those players is Albian Ajeti.
The Swiss striker arrived at Parkhead on a £5 million deal from West Ham United and came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. He quickly scored his first 5 goals for the Hoops and looked like a premium goal poacher. An injury halted that momentum though and he was without a goal since September.
That changed in midweek though as he found the back of the net against Kilmarnock. He was involved in some controversy as well though regarding the Odsonne Edouard penalty from earlier in the game, when many felt that Ajeti had dived in order to win it.
Sutton believes that the Celtic striker did dive
While there has been debate regarding the issue, Chris Sutton is of the believe that the striker did dive and has called for divers to be given bans in order to tackle the issue. As reported by the Daily Record, he said:
"“I think it was a dive. I think it was simulation.“I think the SFA will panic, Celtic will put the pressure on and he will get away with it. I would ban divers, Darrell, I’ve always said that.”“I would ban divers, I would give them a couple of games and that would be a good deterrent.”"
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To be very honest, it is hard to judge whether there was contact with Ajeti or not. The camera angle is very inconclusive as it does look like the goalkeeper’s hand did make contact with the striker’s feet and might have tripped him up. Again, it is hard to judge from the video.
Did Ajeti go down easily? Possibly. But that is just modern football and you cannot blame him for doing so. At this point, it is unfortunately a part of the game.
It would be unfair to brand the Swiss striker a ‘diver’ without conclusive proof that he did. In fact, even if VAR was in function, they might not have overturned the penalty as there is no evidence that the goalkeeper’s hand doesn’t make contact with Ajeti’s feet. Innocent until proven guilty as the old saying goes.