Johnson left fuming at ‘really poor’ officiating

HIBS BOSS LEE HITS OUT AFTER CELTIC COMEBACK

HIBERNIAN manager Lee Johnson bemoaned a “really poor performance” from the match officials after his 10 men suffered a late defeat at Parkhead.

Hibs lost lone striker Elie Youan to two yellow cards inside 24 minutes, the first for a fairly innocuous attempt to close down Carl Starfelt and the second following a tangle with Cameron Carter-vickers for what Johnson felt might have been a free kick to his side.

Referee Steven Mclean awarded three penalties – including one with the assistance of VAR Gavin Duncan and one which was rescinded by the video official. Josh Campbell netted the first for Hibs (below) after Starfelt was ruled to have pulled the shirt of Paul Hanlon, who was later penalised for pulling down Carter-vickers to allow Jota to level. Mclean also pointed to the spot when Liel

Abada lost his footing before VAR intervened.

Hibs remained defiant until Oh Hyeon-gyu headed Celtic in front in the 81st minute and Sead Haksabanovic curled home deep into stoppage time.

Johnson said: “I was really proud of the players, it’s as difficult a game as you’ll get. We were outstanding given the circumstances.

“You have to point fingers at the referee’s performance. How on earth can it be a sending-off for Elie Youan?

“I thought it was a foul against Elie, the centre-half pulls and pushes him. Cartervickers is a strong lad and by the time Elie connects with his head, and he does, he’s about 5ft 2ins. And he’s a big player.

“Elie has his back to goal, doesn’t know where Cartervickers is and he’s been outmuscled. Maybe a foul, maybe not. It’s definitely not a yellow card.

“The referee made the call for the red card from what he told me. He said it was a reckless challenge. It was hardly a reckless challenge. He’s got his back to goal, he’s pinned him early and he’s off-balance. It was just a really poor performance. It bugs me. Clubs like Hibs need all teams to be on point.

“We were but they weren’t. I’m not sure either penalty should have been given.”