Bobby Madden believes Celtic had a compelling case for a penalty at Tynecastle despite being waved away by video technology.
After a fairly uneventful debut across the capital on Friday night, VAR was seriously put to the test in Gorgie as the Hoops edged out a seven-goal thriller against Hearts. After James Forrest nodded them in front, Anthony Ralston had a goal ruled out when Nick Walsh blew for a foul before he headed home. The goal was checked, must to the annoyance of Craig Gordon, who pointed out that Hearts had stopped after the whistler awarded the free-kick.
The hosts were then given a penalty on the strike of half-time. Cammy Devlin was wiped out in the box, but Walsh didn’t initially award the spot kick and needed his colleagues in the studio to inform him he should have another look. Almost immediately after Lawrence Shankland scored, the visitors wanted a spot-kick of their own after an apparent handball by Michael Smith, but a swift check said no.
Madden however, says he would’ve awarded a penalty after a VAR review. "Handball is so subjective,” he said. “It will always split a room. Difficult call live. Personally - I think it's a penalty and should have been VAR intervention."
Robbie Neilson’s side got a second spot kick after Devlin was again taken out in the box. There wasn’t any hesitation from Walsh, but he elected not to show Moritz Jenz and second yellow for the foul.
Joe Hart saved Shankland’s effort from 12 yards, but Josh Ginnelly was first to the rebound. However, VAR checked for encroachments and ordered a retake, which Shankland made no mistake with.
A perfect example of VAR doing it’s job, according to Madden."Naked eye not identifying encroachment by player who scores rebound,” he said. “Another good use of VAR and retake awarded."
After Celtic had secured the three points, it was up to Rangers to try and ensure the gap remained at two points after their clash against Livingston. Joe Nouble’s early strike gave the Lions a shock lead and Gio van Bronckhorst’s team laboured to find a leveller.
They eventually got one through John Lundstram in stoppage time, but not before Morgan Boyes was sent off after a VAR review upgraded the yellow he was initially given,.
"Not easy to identify point of contact live and VAR recommends on field review,"sad Madden. "Red card given."
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