“The referee knows it wasn’t a handball,” Kelechi Iheanacho

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The Celtic Star

·4 ottobre 2025

“The referee knows it wasn’t a handball,” Kelechi Iheanacho

Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho criticised the referee for disallowing his second-half goal against Sporting Braga, calling the decision “awful” as he and his teammates suffered a 2-0 Europa League defeat at Celtic Park on Thursday night…

View from the Jock Stein stand, Celtic v Sporting Braga. 2 October 2025. Photo The Celtic Star

The Nigerian thought he had equalised just after the break, but the goal was quickly disallowed for a supposed handball.

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Replays revealed the ball had hit Iheanacho’s face rather than his arm, causing outrage among players and fans, while VAR failed to do its job correctly and overturn the decision.

Iheanacho was candid in his remarks on his post-match interview on Celtic TV. He said: “That was an awful decision from them and it changed the game. We would have been back in it. The ball didn’t hit my hand; it hit my face. We are disappointed, I don’t know what they did there.”

“The referee knows it wasn’t a handball. It changed the game and, hopefully, they can sort that out.”

The incident turned the momentum of the game on its head. After Brendan Rodgers tweaked the formation at half-time, Celtic began the second half with energy and purpose, and Iheanacho’s goal would have most definitely changed the outcome of the game. Instead, Braga maintained their advantage, soaked up the pressure and added a late second goal.

Now, Iheanacho insists that Celtic must remain positive heading into a tough Scottish Premiership encounter against Motherwell tomorrow afternoon.

“We are gutted that we lost. We need to do more, but hopefully we can win on Sunday,” he added. “We need to keep our heads up and focus on the weekend.”

😲 "The worst I've ever seen!" Jay Bothroyd says the decision to rule out Kelechi Iheanacho's goal in Celtic's defeat to Braga was "laughable". What did you make of it?
– venerdì 3 ottobre 2025

Fans, already frustrated by Celtic failing to score in five of their last nine matches, are losing patience watching this Hoops team underperform week in week out. Discontent with the board remains at an all-time high, and the squad now faces increasing pressure to produce results.

Something needs to change on the pitch. Whether that is personnel or a formation change, it needs a reset or else we will limp to January.

Conor Spence

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Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star

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Celtic 3-0 St Mirren, Scottish Premier League, Celtic Park, 15 May 1982.Celtic captain Danny McGrain collects the championship trophy as Roy Aitken looks on. Photo The Celtic Wiki

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