A few days after English football became what many say The most controversial VAR callScotland said: Have a beer.
The two league title races were on a knife’s edge, with two very significant officiating decisions that sparked equal amounts of anger, confusion, and conspiracy theories.
It’s also pleasing for Celtic, who benefited from Wednesday’s controversial call just as Arsenal did on Sunday.
Derek McInnes, coach of Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts, said of the handball incident that resulted in a last-minute penalty in Celtic’s 3-2 win over Motherwell: “It was actually pretty disgusting.”
“This is a very bad decision,” McInnes said. He takes his Hearts side into Saturday’s final clash with Celtic, who hold a one-point lead in the table.
That lead could be three points, and most of the Scottish public seemed to believe it should be.
Results in the field
The penultimate round was played in Scotland on Wednesday night. A title race that transcends generations.
Unheralded Hearts have been leading the league for several months in a bid to bring the trophy back to the club for the first time in 66 years.
Hearts easily defeated Falkirk 3-0 at the same time as Celtic’s back-and-forth at Motherwell. The tense split-screen night came into sharper focus near the end.
Motherwell leveled the score at 2-2 in the 85th minute at Fir Park, just before Hearts scored their third goal in the 86th minute at Tynecastle Park amid the noise of 19,000 raucous fans.
If this result is correct, Hearts will travel to Celtic on Saturday, where they can lose by two goals and still clinch the title with a tiebreaker on goal difference.
Celtic then took a throw-in near the Motherwell penalty area with four minutes left in stoppage time.
penalty incident
The throw-in was fired long and Celtic’s American defender Auston Trusty dived and connected with Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson for a header.
The trustee’s shoulders appeared to lift Nicholson’s arm upwards and press his hand toward his face. The ball was cleared at a height of approximately 20 meters (yards) and was clearly headed by Nicholson. The referee did not point out a foul.
Trusty went down as if he had been hit in the head, and referee John Beaton eventually went to the pitchside monitor for a video review.
Although the main camera angle seemed inconclusive, Beaton judged the handball foul and pointed to the penalty spot.
In the 99th minute, Celtic forward Kelechi Iheanacho scored with the final kick. Hearts fans who remained at Tynecastle looked at their mobile phone screens in dismay.
If Celtic can win any number of points against Hearts, which they must avoid losing, they will clinch their 14th league title and their first in 15 years.
coach’s reaction
Motherwell coach Jens Berthel Askou said: “It’s shocking. It’s disappointing for the game.” “It felt completely surreal.”
The Danish coach said Nicholson’s arm was pressed and questioned whether the ball even hit his hand. “You can’t see it from any angle. It’s a crazy thing to be a part of.”
McInnes agreed, saying, “When I was watching it, I thought something was missing.”
The Celts had a different view.
“It seems like we were given a pretty clear penalty,” said Celtic great coach Martin O’Neill, 74. season of confusion At the Glasgow Giants.
Askou also clarified what many Scotland fans and pundits have been saying since the controversy arose over a series of VAR decisions against Celtic and Hearts at the weekend.
“I think the big question is, what are we doing here?” Askou said.
of A majority-owned fan-run charity On Thursday, he said he was “very concerned” about last week’s officiating decision.
The Foundation of Hearts said: “We understand that the club shares these concerns and have expressed them to the football authorities seeking clarification on the recent decisions.”
Concept of VAR
Video review of on-field decisions has since become a maelstrom of debate FIFA quickly followed it up To make his World Cup debut in 2018.
Yet the camera system, designed to eliminate “obvious mistakes” by match officials, is perhaps Britain’s most controversial. It’s not primarily FIFA’s fault, it’s a matter of how game officials there interpret what they see.
On Sunday, the turmoil reached a crescendo in the Premier League.
Arsenal held a 1-0 lead to avoid title rivals Manchester City, but West Ham thought they had secured a point in the relegation battle by scoring from a stoppage-time corner kick.
it arose from a scuffle Jump, push, or pull your body within the goal mouse He has been spotted in the corner at most of Arsenal’s matches this season and has been branded a “WrestleMania” by some media outlets.
After an unusually long video review, match officials disallowed the goal for a foul on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. This was one of at least five fouls committed by both teams when the ball came from a corner. The still image of the messy tangle was almost comical.
Had West Ham’s goal been scored, City would have been top of the Premier League with two matches remaining. 3-0 win on Wednesday Above the Crystal Palace.
Arsenal and Celtic are likely to win the title in the next 10 days. This debate will rage on in the UK for years to come.
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