Officials to blame but Celtic’s own failings can’t be ignored.

Yesterday’s game was always going to be difficult, and it showed when we fell to Hearts at Tynecastle.

With the opportunity to take top of the table following Rangers’ unexpected defeat on Saturday, it appeared a step too far for our players, who did not rise to the occasion.

It must be stated that ‘incompetent’ officiating played a role in this. Yang’s red card undoubtedly altered the outcome of the game. It was a dubious one, to say the least, but you can understand why it was awarded when John Beaton was involved.

The most contentious decision, however, was to give a penalty to Hearts. It was a shame; there is no other term for it. It was never a penalty in a million years, but the Rangers’ supporters, John Beaton and Don Robertson, somehow determined it was, breaking the rules of the game.

Brendan Rodgers was correct in calling out the officials, since their decision was clearly incorrect. A choice that set us up for a difficult climb in terms of recovering anything from the game.

However, we must also examine our own flaws. We, too, had the opportunity to score from the spot but failed to capitalize. Adam Idah had previously seemed so confident from the spot, but he blew a golden opportunity to put us ahead. A Celtic player made another poor attempt from the penalty spot.

It could have turned out quite differently if we had taken the lead yesterday, but I guess we’ll never know. Even at one down and with ten men, we were still in the game, but we didn’t fight hard enough to get back in. But we were never going to win this one, especially with a Rangers fan influencing the decision via his VAR computer screen.

Yes, ‘incompetent’ officials duped us with Beaton’s poor decisions that kept his heroes on top, but we must also examine our own failures.

Why are Celtic players so bad at penalty kicks? Shouldn’t these things be practiced in advance? If they are, why has there been no improvement? Little things like this can help you win titles.

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