Des Roache and Steve Conroy, former SFA referees, say Celtic should have been awarded a penalty in their Boxing Day 4-0 victory over Motherwell.
Although Brendan Rodgers’ team easily won, an incident involving Daizen Maeda in the first half has aroused criticism.
At 0-0, Maeda was played through on goal but had his shot saved by Motherwell custodian Aston Oxborough. As the ball lingered in the air, Maeda bravely challenged for the rebound, but received a high boot to the face as the keeper and defender cleared the danger.
In the same action, Paulo Bernardo was punished for a high boot, despite his effort being at knee height. The judgement raised questions about why Maeda was not punished for an earlier foul.
Roache and Conroy, posting on social media, claimed Celtic were denied a penalty.
Brendan Rogers praised his team’s second-half performance but acknowledged that the result should have been more convincing.
“It could have been more. There were further ways to strengthen our argument. The players kept going, and we could have gotten more.”
Some have felt that Celtic’s soft penalty awarded in first-half injury time, when Hyunjun Yang was clipped by Oxborough, compensated for the earlier missed decision. However, both occurrences should have been reported accurately, as one does not justify the other.
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