Celtic managed to get a 2-1 win over Motherwell. The result means that the Hoops now remain at the top of the table with their 7-point lead over the Rangers intact. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s managed to get a win as well on the night, as they defeated Hearts by 1-0 to relieve some of the pressure that had built up on their Dutch manager in recent weeks.
While the result might have suited Celtic, it did not come without controversy, as a sublime goal from Jota was ruled out by VAR.
VAR was brought into the game in order to reduce controversial decisions and get things right as often as possible. It has gone on to have the opposite effect though, often becoming the centre of attraction instead of the game or the players. Ange Postecoglou has made it known in the past that he is not the biggest fan of the system although he was pretty calm about the matter following the win over Motherwell. The fact that he had not seen the incident yet might have had something to do with it though.
As reported by Football Scotland, Postecoglou told BBC about Jota’s disallowed goal vs Motherwell:
"“It was a great goal, but if it’s offside then it’s offside. I have no problem with VAR, just use it when you need to. That’s the perfect example if that’s offside.“I haven’t seen it but it’s a good time to use it.”"
Celtic boss has reacted to Jota’s disallowed goal vs Motherwell
While VAR might have ruled out Jota’s goal, it is still not clear whether it was offside or not. In fact, there was no side angle of the incident.
Instead, it appeared that VAR decided to use a camera angle that was from the other half of the pitch and from behind the play.
How can someone be certain about an offside call from that angle is pretty interesting. And that’s not even bringing up what looked like a stonewall red card late in the game that was not given. More questions raised than answers given.