Gary Lineker has weighed in on the debate over Celtic’s controversial match-winning penalty after the Hoops benefited from a huge fortune at Motherwell, calling it “the worst VAR call I’ve ever seen”. Hearts beat Falkirk 3-0 and the Hoops fought their way to a 2-2 draw with Motherwell but believed they had taken a monumental step towards winning their first title since 1960, and the night of the perennial title race ended with extraordinary drama.
But Tynecastle’s celebrations turned to dejection when news came from Fir Park that Celtic had won from a penalty in the 97th minute. It happened when Auston Trusty challenged Sam Nicholson in the air inside the Motherwell box. Referee John Beaton made no decision on the pitch, but after being called to the monitor for a VAR check by Andrew Dallas, he ruled that the ball hit Nicholson’s hand following a flick-on from Trustee.
Replays showed the contact was not clear and suggested Nicholson headed the ball clear rather than handling it.
Kelechi Iheanacho caused a pitch invasion from the away side when he came forward to take the spot kick and scored with the last kick of the match.
The result means Celtic only need to win against Hearts at Parkhead on Sunday, and would have needed a 3-0 win had they drawn.
Beaton’s sentence, handed down after a short pitchside review, sparked outrage from several quarters. Lineker weighed in on the controversy, tweeting: “This may be the worst VAR call I’ve ever seen (and there’s a lot of competition). Extraordinary considering the importance.”
Former Sky Sports Soccer Saturday presenter Geoff Stelling told X: “Seriously, that was no handball at Fir Park. The lad headed it 20 yards. The referee took one look at the VAR decision. It’s an embarrassment for Scottish football.”
Hearts hero Ryan Stephenson fumed on the BBC: “This is a disgrace. VAR took six minutes in the recent game between West Ham and Arsenal because everyone knew what a big decision it was. Why on earth was John Beaton in front of the monitor for 20 seconds?”
Hearts manager Derek McInnes, meanwhile, agreed: “I think it’s terrible. I don’t think it was a penalty. I think it’s too bad that they gave away that penalty.”
Meanwhile, former Celtic defender and coach Darren O’Dea said: “If you look at the footage I’ve just seen, the trajectory of the ball makes a lot of contact with Sam Nicholson’s head. I don’t see how you can say that was a handball.”
Motherwell manager Jens Berthel-Askou responded: “All things considered, I think this is one of the worst decisions of my football career.”
“I thought I’d been watching this whole season, but apparently I haven’t. I don’t know if there’s a problem or not, but if we keep making the calls like we’ve been doing, we’re going to end up being ridiculed as a footballing nation.”
“I don’t think we deserve it because the country has been going in the right direction in many ways this season. It’s a shame. You know, even watching from afar, I was surprised that he was called to monitor.”
“You could see him connecting with his head. The only reason you might find a photo of him hitting the finger is because he connects with Trusty over there, pushing his arm in the direction of heading the ball.”
“Even if he found the connection, the arm would be pushed in that direction, so it’s never a penalty, no matter what bad call it was. Until that last unreal decision, we more than deserved to have the result on the scoreboard.”
