Nick Walsh was the man in the middle as Celtic and Rangers clashed in the final derby showdown of 2023.
Here we take a look at how the referee and his officials handled the clash as Celtic ran out 2-1 winners over their city rivals.
17 minutes Alastair Johnston booking
Canadian full-back Alastair Johnston picked up the first booking of the derby clash when he cynically brought down Abdallah Sima on the edge of the box.
The Senegal international skipped past his man and was on his way into the penalty area so the decision to award a free-kick and award a yellow card was spot on from referee Walsh.
26 minutes Bernardo booked for celebration
The next booking of the contest came when Bernardo opened the scoring at Parkhead on 26 minutes. It is never a popular rule, but it was the correct call by Walsh going by the rule book. IFAB rules state:
Players can celebrate when a goal is scored, but the celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and must not cause excessive time-wasting.
Leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal is not a cautionable offence but players should return as soon as possible.
A player must be cautioned, even if the goal is disallowed, for:
- climbing onto a perimeter fence and/or approaching the spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues
- acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way
- covering the head or face with a mask or other similar item
- removing the shirt or covering the head with the shirt
38 minutes Clement booked on the touchline
On 38 minutes Rangers boss Philippe Clement was cautioned on the touchline. It was not clear what his booking was for, but it appeared to be for dissent towards the fourth official.
43 minutes penalty checked by VAR for handball by Alistair Johnston
The big penalty call of the fixture arrived shortly before half-time. It was unclear at the time why a spot-kick was not given as replays clearly showed that Johnston had handled the ball as he grappled with Sima in the box.
However, it appeared the decision was correct after it later came to light that Sima was in fact offside in the build-up and that is why VAR operator Willie Collum did not request for referee Walsh to review the incident.
59 minutes Sterling booked for a foul on Bernardo
Into the second half and Dujon Sterling was the first to go in the book as he halted a Celtic counter with Bernardo in possession. It was a clear foul and with the counter halted it was the correct call to award a yellow card.
63 Bernardo gets away with a foul on Goldson
Just after the hour mark Bernardo was lucky to get away without a second yellow card as he clashed with Connor Goldson in a late challenge. Both players were committed but a second yellow card could have easily been handed out to the midfielder who was late. VAR would only intervene on incidents involving the award of a goal/no goal or a direct red card.
64 minutes Alistair Johnston elbow on Sima
Just a minute later there was a similar incident as Alistair Johnston looked to have elbowed Sima. A free-kick was given by Walsh but it would have been no surprise to see a second yellow card awarded for the incident. Probably got away with one.
70 minutes Balogun red card
Leon Balogun was sent off for Rangers on 70 minutes when he brought down Daizen Maeda as the last man after he was played through on goal. IFAB rules state: A player, substitute or substituted player who commits any of the following offences is sent off:
- denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick (unless as outlined below)
Going by this ruling by IFAB there is no doubt that Walsh was correct with his decision to hand out a red card.
80 minutes late flurry of bookings
Late in the game, Walsh handed out yellow cards to David Turnbull, Callum McGregor, Malik Nawrocki, Oh Hyeon-Gyu, Connor Goldson and John Souttar as Rangers pushed for an equaliser. All decisions looked to be correct with a number of niggly fouls taking place across the pitch.
Conclusion
Overall Nick Walsh and his officials had a strong performance. All fouls that were cautioned were correct and the big call in the game with the VAR handball incident was also ruled correctly with Sima offside in the build-up. Walsh could be criticised for not handing out second yellow cards to Celtic duo Bernardo and Johnston, but there were no clear and obvious errors in his performance.
