NafisaChris Sutton has defended the controversial late penalty that helped preserve Celtic’s Scottish Premiership title hopes.
Martin O’Neill’s side fell behind to Elliot Watt’s opener and were then hit by Liam Gordon’s late leveller during a dramatic evening in Motherwell, before a VAR-assisted penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho secured a 3-2 victory for the visitors with virtually the final touch of the match.
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou labelled John Beaton’s decision to award the penalty as “one of the worst decisions” he had ever witnessed, but the result means Celtic will snatch the title from Hearts if they defeat the long-time league leaders at Parkhead on Saturday.
Before referee Beaton was called over to the monitor by Andrew Dallas for a handball review involving former Hearts midfielder Sam Nicholson, the Hoops were heading into the title decider knowing they would need to win by three goals.
With the chances of Celtic ruining Hearts’ fairytale finale now greatly reduced, Sutton believes the reaction to what he viewed as a valid penalty has been exaggerated.
He wrote on X: ‘Now the dust has settled, the reaction from many high profile people is way over the top.
‘John Beaton was advised to go to the monitor and saw that the ball hit the arm in an unnatural position Bottom line is people would hate to see Celtic win the title again and that is all.’
Among those who believed Motherwell, and indirectly Hearts, had been harshly treated was Gary Lineker, who suggested ‘this might be the worst VAR decision I’ve seen (and there’s a lot of competition). Extraordinary given the significance.’
Sutton quickly dismissed that opinion, though, insisting that this exact type of situation is ‘what VAR is there for’.
O’Neill, whose side initially turned the game around through goals from Daizen Maeda and Benjamin Nygren, said: ‘I think we knew we had to win both matches otherwise it was done for. It’s exciting to take it into the final game and I think the players have good belief that they can do it. And that’s very, very important.
‘We have to win the game. Hearts don’t but at least we’ve taken it there. It’s nice to take it into the final game which looked a long way off five or six weeks ago.
‘I think we have got a chance, we’re at home. The atmosphere will be fantastic.’
When questioned about the penalty incident, O’Neill said: ‘The lads have a little monitor. It’s very small. I can’t really see it. I need another pair of glasses to see it. The lads thought it was a handball, an elbow as well too.’
Askou, whose side saw European qualification slip away in the closing moments, completely disagreed.
‘I think it’s one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in my career, taking everything into consideration,’ the Dane said.
‘I thought I’d seen it all this season, but I hadn’t.
‘If we keep making calls that we have done too many times, we will end up being ridiculed as a football country and I don’t think we deserve that because in so many ways this country is taking steps in the right direction, especially this season. It’s a shame.
‘Even watching it from a distance I was shocked he even got called to the monitor because you can see he connects with his head.
‘The reason you could find a picture where it hits his finger, it’s because he connects with Trusty and his arm gets pushed in the direction where he’s heading the ball. Even if he finds a connection with the arm, it’s not a penalty.’
Nafisa
