Celtic were on the end of another bad decision from VAR on Wednesday during their 2-1 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Just before half-time, Sebastian Tounekti sent a cross into the box, and the ball struck the arm of defender Jack Milne. Play was halted as the incident was checked, but ultimately, VAR chose not to intervene.
At this point in the game, both sides were tied, and if it wasn't for Benjamin Nygren's goal in the 67th minute, the decision not to give a penalty could have been a massive one. When you consider that the referee immediately pointed to the spot for a very soft penalty in the Celtic area when Liam Scales clipped a Dons player, it makes the choice not to give one up the other end very questionable.
This is yet another game where supporters feel hard done by the refereeing team, and for good reason. Even manager Martin O'Neill expressed that he felt it should have been a spot kick, saying:
"When we got the goal, I felt we surrendered the game and didn’t really make the goal count. Aberdeen get back into the game, and then in the second half, Nygren scores a goal, but I thought we should have had a penalty before that. I thought it was a handball; it looked pretty clear, but it wasn’t given."
However, the pundits on Sky for the match disagreed, with Chris Sutton saying:
"I never disagree with Martin, but I don’t think he’s right. I hope nobody shows him this!"
Still the wrong call, even if pundits can't agree
Why pundits can't seem to agree, we will never know, but analysis of the clip highlights the clear mistake. As the ball was flying into the area, where it was likely Tomas Cvancara was going to meet it, Milne stuck his arm out and purposefully made his body bigger in an attempt to block the cross.
This is another example of horrendous refereeing standards in Scotland that have been on show in recent weeks. With Celtic now having been denied stonewall penalties on multiple occasions, the question on everyone's lips is whether the robbery will ever stop. Well, with a cup derby coming up at Ibrox this weekend, we wouldn't count on it.
Let's hope it isn't a major VAR decision that ends up deciding Celtic's season. Thanks to the three points secured on the road mid-week, the Hoops now sit five points behind Hearts before the split. O'Neill's side are well and truly in the title race.