Matt O'Riley has revealed referee Don Robertson told him he probably should have had a foul in the build-up to Celtic’s Hampden winner.
But the Parkhead ace was happy to let it slide after seeing Jota subsequently send his team into the Scottish Cup Final. O’Riley had a massive input in the Portuguese’s headed strike that brought a semi-final win over Rangers at the National Stadium. The midfielder was heading towards the penalty box when he was halted by a challenge from covering Ibrox ace Nicolas Raskin.
Robertson didn’t blow his whistle for a free-kick at the incident. But, as the Belgian and some of his Rangers team-mates stopped and froze, the alert Daizen Maeda pounced to collect possession again for Celtic and deliver a cross to the far post which colleague Jota buried to seal the semi. O’Riley said: “It was definitely a foul, but sometimes you have just got to be grateful! To be fair, I was screaming for it.
“The ref told me it probably was a foul when I walked past him, but he said: If I’d given the foul then you guys wouldn’t have scored. I was like: Yeah, fair enough!
“It was a really good goal, too. We wouldn’t usually cross from that kind of area. We would usually try to work it a bit closer.
“But Daizen saw the opportunity and it was a great ball for the goal.”
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
You can also follow our dedicated Rangers and Celtic podcast pages and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
