Celtic loss 'refereed outside the field', says manager Brendan Rodgers after Hearts win 2-0

[CharlieH]

 

Manager Brendan Rodgers lamented "really, really poor officiating" as Celtic fell to a controversial defeat at Hearts to complete a weekend of shocks in the Scottish title race.

The 2-0 loss prevented champions Celtic reclaiming top spot from Rangers, who stay two points clear after being stunned by Motherwell on Saturday. The top two each have nine league games left.

 

Rodgers claimed "the game was refereed outside the field today" after video assistant referee (VAR) intervention led to Yang Hyun-jun's yellow being upgraded to a red card and Tomoki Iwata conceding a penalty for Hearts' opener.

John Beaton was the VAR in Edinburgh, with referee Don Robertson ultimately making the final decisions.

Yang was penalised for a high foot on Alex Cochrane and Iwata was judged to have used his arm, with Jorge Grant netting from the spot. Celtic themselves were awarded a penalty at 0-0, with Adam Idah's effort saved by Zander Clark.

Lawrence Shankland had a goal disallowed for offside, this time after a VAR check, but was not to be denied as he struck Hearts' second after the break..

"The first incident with the sending off - there's no force in that," Rodgers told BBC Scotland.

"If you make a still [image], of course it gives you a different opinion but the reality was not that. The referee made a right decision of a yellow card.

"That's a clear example of what people say VAR isn't. The game was refereed outside the field today. That means we get a sending off.

"The second one is even worse. Tomoki gets a nudge, I don't know where his arm is supposed to go. The ball drops on to his arm. If that's the case, we should have had a penalty at Motherwell last week.

"For John Beaton to say that is a penalty - wow. Really poor officiating in a big game for us."

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith agreed with the red card but felt both penalties were "soft".

And former Hearts player Allan Preston told BBC Sportsound: "VAR is not the problem, it's the people running it. Referees know the rules inside out, but they don't know the game."

 

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