Celtic were cheated, no-one else despite Ibrox narrative | OneFootball

Both Celtic and theRangers slipped up in the title race yesterday, and both games weren’t without their controversy, with two flashpoints being clearly highlighted in the aftermath of yet another dramatic day of football in the Scottish Premiership…

22.02.2026 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership. Liam Scales rages at Matthew MacDermid after being fouled at a corner but no penalty given. Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

Both incidents were worthy of being magnified, but only one seems to be getting serious attention, and ironically it’s the one that has been proven to be the correct call.

The Ibrox side and their supporters seem to be agitated that they were refused an injury time spot kick, which would have given them a chance of winning a game they were so nearly in danger of losing.

But after a closer inspection it evident it wasn’t an offence worthy of a spot kick, although admittedly they should have had a free kick, with their opponents handed a red card. But VAR as we know can’t intervene in such a situation.

22.02.2026 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership. Matthew MacDermid Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

Despite their constant protestations, they have only themselves to blame for dropping points, and besides they had already been fortunate enough to have played the last half an hour against ten men, not to mention benefiting from an over generous amount of added on time.

In despite of all these points, the Bears and their chums in the Scottish mainstream media have been complaining of ‘foul play’ once again, when in fact it’s the green half of Glasgow who have been on the wrong side of things.

theRangers game was live on SKY, so naturally it will have been given more attention, but cameras were also in use at Celtic Park, and it was clearly evident that we were unjustly denied the opportunity of going ahead at such a vital stage of the game. So there is no excuse to highlight our plight in the same manner.

Listen, we weren’t good enough on the day, and Auston Trusty’s moment of madness contributed to our own downfall, but that doesn’t mean we can’t highlight a clear injustice.

Liam Scales was clearly impeded as he challenged for the ball at a corner kick, and it was by the letter of the law a penalty kick. I like thousands of others seen it clearly in real time, so why didn’t the on field officials, or their colleagues on VAR pick up on the incident, it was the proverbial ‘stonewaller’.

If you watch the incident closely you will see the referee look way over to where the ball is coming from so misses the pull on Scales’ shirt. The Celtic defender goes down and the ball is headed out by the Hibs player for a corner – decision: goal kick.

But what about VAR to all our amazement it was cleared in under a minute, with the explanation bizarrely being given that the incident was committed outside the box!! We can only hope it was a glitch in the graphics, or Willie Collum has a helluva lot of explaining to do on that one as there were clearly no Hibs players outside their box to commit a foul!

Screenshot

Either way, it will be interesting to hear the excuse Collum offers for his men’s ’honest mistake’ especially if they can deem Auston Trusty’s challenge against Hearts as a red, then the obstruction on Scales has got to be viewed in the same manner.

Not on the context that it was an ordering off offence, but the fact it was a viewed as a foul. One can’t be deemed an offence and the other not after all. We wait with great interest to hear their explanation…

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr. Click on image to order

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