Motherwell gutted by penalty decision
Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson claims he would rather have suffered a Betfred Cup final thrashing by Celtic than lose with the help of a controversial penalty.
There was little between the teams until Parkhead winger James Forrest curled in the opener in the 49th minute.
But the turning point, in yesterday’s Hampden final, came just before the hour mark when referee Craig Thomson judged Cedric Kipre to have fouled Celtic’s Scott Sinclair inside the box.
It looked like contact was minimal and Sinclair had gone to ground too willingly, but the Well defender was red-carded before Moussa Dembele hammered in the spotkick to seal a 2-0 win.
Robinson could not contain his frustration afterwards. “First and foremost, I am extremely proud of the players,” said the Northern Irishman. “Congratulations to Celtic, but it is hard to take in that manner. I would rather have been pumped six or seven nothing by them but the game was over with that decision. “The game was over as a contest once that decision was made.
“Craig Gordon made an unbelievable save from Louis Moult just before that and Kieran Tierney catches Louis going into the box when he was ready to finish – no penalty. It is a stonewall penalty.”
Brendan Rodgers became the first Celtic manager since Jock Stein in the late 1960s to capture four trophies in succession.
He said: “Of course it is a very special thing to have happened. Today is a trophy for everyone at the club.”