BEATON DOCKET
Hoops boss furious with VAR official as contentious calls ‘cost’ his side
RAGING Brendan Rodgers slammed the “incompetence” of officials Don Robertson and John Beaton.
The Celtic boss says such “awful” officiating can be hugely costly in a tight title race and makes him worry for the overall game.
Rodgers was seething at two huge Tynecastle calls as his side lost 2-0 to Hearts.
The Hoops arrived in the capital knowing a victory would have taken them back to the top of the cinch Premiership after title rivals Rangers suffered a shock home loss to Motherwell.
Celtic’s chances were undermined in a dramatic opening quarter of an hour when Adam Idah saw a penalty saved by Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark a few minutes before Yang was sent off for catching Alex
Cochrane in the face with a high boot. The South Korean was initially yellow carded before match referee Robertson upgraded it to a red after being advised by VAR official Beaton (left) to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Rodgers was further riled when Hearts were awarded a penalty in the 40th minute after a headed clearance from Liam Scales landed on Tomoki Iwata’s arm as he rose to try and head it out of the box.
Jorge Grant scored the spotkick and Lawrence Shankland netted the hosts’
P Rangers ........... 29 Celtic ................ 29 Hearts .............. 29 St Mirren .......... 29 Kilmarnock ....... 29 Hibernian .......... 28 Dundee ............. 28 Motherwell ....... 29 St Johnstone ...29 Aberdeen ......... 28 Ross County ..... 28 Livingston ........ 29
W 23 21 17 12 10 8 8
7
6
6
5
3
D 1 5 4 6 11 10 9 11 10 9 8 8
L 5 3 8 11 8 10 11 11 13 13 15 18
F 64 68 38 34 34 36 39 41 20 32 24 20 second goal in the 56th minute. Rodgers fumed: “My feeling is that the game was decided by the officials. On the field and outside of the field.
“I try to respect decisions and give the benefit of the doubt. But I think when I see that level of incompetence is the only word I can use, then that makes me worry for the game.
“The first one, Don got it actually right on the field. It was a high boot, so it’s a yellow card. No malice or force.
“For John Beaton to actually look at that in VAR, supposedly under no pressure, and say that was sending off ? I find that really incredible.
“The second one is even worse. If you have a penalty go against you for that then there will be penalties every single weekend and midweek.”