Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has weighed in on one of Celtic's disallowed goals against St Mirren over the weekend. The Bhoys secured a comeback win over the in-form Buddies, with Liam Scales and Yang Hyun-jun on target, but Matin O'Neill's men could have had two more on another day.
Both Shim Mheuka and Camilo Duran had goals disallowed, and they were both close, but supporters were particularly aggrieved by the Duran goal, which came before Celtic had found the net legitimately.
The source of the frustration was the replay being shown, because it appeared to be onside, but former referee Clattenburg believes the match officials will have seen a closer angle to have found a justification of the offside.
“Celtic’s offside looks tight to the naked eye, and the player must be ahead of the ball and ahead of the second most rear defender for the decision to be given,” Clattenburg has said.
“It’s a very tight one as he is ahead of the ball and it looks like a foot is ahead of the defender. We have to trust the match officials in this case, especially when it’s so tight.
“Offside is factual, and therefore 1cm is offside, and there is no margin to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacker.”
That could change in the coming years, but ultimately, Celtic found a way to come back in any case, so there isn't too much sense in lingering on the decision. One would imagine there is an angle or a zoomed-in picture we have not seen that shows a slight offside, and it is a shame that football has come down to such ridiculous margins, but the rules are the rules for now.
One can only hope that a common-sense alternative will be found that protects the spirit of the game and allows fans to truly enjoy the match experience like years gone by, rather than having to hold back celebrations or because they never know when 1cm could be the reason a goal is chalked off.
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