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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Sport
Lindsay Herron

Malky Mackay Celtic penalty fury as Ross County boss calls out interfering VAR and questions added time

Malky Mackay has questioned the standard of VAR in Scotland after a big penalty call went against relegation-threatened Ross County.

Alex Iacovitti was adjudged to have handled from a cross whilst battling for a header with Celtic's Cameron Carter-Vickers deep into first jhalf injury time.

Willie Collum wasted no time whatsoever in pointing to the spot after a brief look at the VAR screen, with Jota tucking home from the spot kick in the last action of the half. Mackay felt aggrieved by the decision, with other stonewall calls failing to be given across the season so far. And he made inferences to his time in England, claiming that the Premier League has it spot on when it comes to technology.

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Mackay told Sky Sports: "I was really surprised at the penalty. I've seen it half a dozen times and I still look and think 'what on earth are we doing?' if that's going to be a penalty.

"You can't 'jump' in the box with your arms at your side, his arm is behind him. The two of them bravely went with their heads, they both missed it and it hits Alex on the back of his arm.

"He doesn't even see it - it's ball to arm. It's not going anywhere, it's not doing anything. I find it remarkable that VAR is interfering and the bar is set at that. I look at where the bar is set with VAR in England, and it's high. I don't see that now.

"I thought we were terrific. Obviously playing a really good team, it thought first half we were excellent. We knew they'd have lots of the ball but I thought we kept our distance well and made sure we got into the spaces we should've got when we know Celtic's patterns of play.

"When I look at that, just on half-time, I am not sure as far as the fourth official is concerned we were actually over the allotted extra time."

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