Referee Euan Robertson was "swayed" by a slip from Livingston defender Morgan Boyes when ruling Celtic star Liel Abada's goal, claims Gordon Dalziel.
The Scottish Premiership leaders ran out 2-1 winners over David Martindale's side after a sluggish performance, Ayo Obileye's own goal and a Kyogo strike proving to enough for Hoops despite Nicky Devlin's effort setting up a nervy second half. However, the talking point from the game came when Abada appeared to have netted a third when he collected David Turnbull's ball after a knock down from stumbling Morgan Boyes into his path.
After a lengthy consultation period referee Euan Anderson was called to the VAR monitor for closer inspection and ruled the strike out. IFAB guidelines for "deliberate play" offside rulings, such as Boyes contract with Turnbull's ball forward, state: "A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by: gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has: rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar, match official or an opponent.
“A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent. ‘Deliberate play’ is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of: passing the ball to a team-mate; or gaining possession of the ball; or clearing the ball (e.g. by kicking or heading it)."
Pundit Dalziel told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard that the Livi defender losing his footing could be the key factor from the whistler's point of view, meaning that the contact would not have been deliberate from Boyes. That would leave Abada in an offside position when Turnbulll's initial ball is driven forward.
He said: "If you look at the Livingston defender last night as he goes to header it, he slips. I think that is where is has swayed the referee. Now I looked at it, and I keep looking at it and looking at it.
“But he (the referee) put that down and say by the letter of the law, after looking at it on the monitor and he has thought that is offside. I’m on the side of Celtic supporters and I thought it was a goal, but I can flip the coin and say a referee that knows the rules inside out also had the opportunity to take a deep breath, go over to the monitor and make a judgment call. I think if you get referees in to say here is our argument; it’s a ffity-fifty for me.”
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