Celtic lost to Hibernian at Easter Road this weekend. Of course, it is always disappointing to lose, no matter how big the gap is between first and second in the league. The mood was lifted a bit later on in the day when the Rangers were handed a 2-0 defeat at home by the visiting St Mirren, another blow for Philippe Clement's side as they failed to take advantage of the Hoops' slip-up once again.
Coming back to the Celtic vs Hibernian game though, there was a lot to unpack. The biggest talking point of the day was the disallowed goal which would have made it 2-2.
Daizen Maeda had scored the equaliser for Celtic. But VAR adjudged that the ball had gone out of play in the lead up to the goal and as a result, it was chalked off.
Brendan Rodgers was visibly upset due to the decision. After the game, he shared what referee Steven McLean had told him regarding the call. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the Celtic manager said:
"He (McLean) just said afterwards that it was a VAR decision, that it was factually out. Which will be interesting from the 18-yard line, if you don’t have the actual images.
“That’s what I’m saying, I don’t want to be overly critical until someone produces an actual piece of evidence that tells us the ball was conclusively out."
What the referee said about Celtic's disallowed goal vs Hibernian
It is safe to say that there is a lot of doubt about the decision. That should never be the case when VAR is involved. That is the whole point of using technology to make such calls.
At the end of the day, Celtic have to move on though. It was a bad performance from them and Hibernian took advantage of that. Yes, the game could have ended in a draw but even then, there was a clear need to improve moving forward.
The Champions League run was a great adventure for the club, fans and players. It is now over though. The focus to be on the domestic games moving forward. There are two trophies still left to play for and anything other than a treble would feel like a disappointment considering the position the Hoops are in.