Celtic were comfortable, dominant winners against Hearts on Saturday afternoon. The bhoys delivered a display we’ve been waiting for all season where they made sure their opponents didn’t have a chance of winning the game.
Celtic stormed to a 2-0 lead in the first half against Hearts on Saturday and while the third goal didn’t come until late on, the result was never in doubt.
However, the penalty to Celtic provided a fantastic example of referees now relying on technology to make the decisions rather than making the call in the moment.
Kevin Clancy had the chance to point to the spot on Saturday afternoon without needing any assistance whatsoever. However, he chose to let the play run after Lawrence Shankland handled the ball blatantly in his own box. Celtic fans, the players and even Shankland knew what was coming. When the ball went out of play there was a fraction of a moment before Clancy was running to the screen.
If we could hear the audio it would likely have been ‘mate, go to the screen, you’ve made an a*se of that one’. As soon as Clancy had gone to the screen, a penalty was awarded.
This isn’t a gripe about VAR in the way it got something wrong, but an example of a referee not doing his job ten feet away from the incident because he knows he has backup.
VAR wasn’t installed for that. I do believe if VAR wasn’t in play Clancy would have pointed to the spot. Referee the game inside the stadium unless it’s a completely contentious issue. Today it was obvious.
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