Rangers icon Kris Boyd was furious over a controversial last-minute penalty as Celtic beat Motherwell 3-2 to set up an epic final day of the Scottish Premiership. The Hoops grabbed the vital three points in the 97th minute when Kelechi Iheanacho awarded a penalty after Sam Nicholson was adjudged to have handled the ball inside his own area. Referee John Beaton finally pointed out the spot after checking the pitchside VAR monitor.
It will bring a thrilling conclusion to the title race between Celtic and Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday. In the event of a draw, Celtic would have needed to beat Hearts by three goals to win the league. But victory at Fir Park means the defending champions need to break top of the league if they are to retain the title and deprive Hearts of their first crown since 1960. The drama at Motherwell coincided with Hearts beating Falkirk 3-0 at Tynecastle, with Celtic at one point leading 1-0 and coming close to clinching the league title with one game remaining.
But the Steelmen were unable to hold on to a single point and Hearts manager Derek McInnes was furious at the decision at Motherwell, saying: “It’s disappointing. I don’t think it was a penalty. But we’re up to it, we’re up against everyone and we’ll be ready for Saturday.”
“If I were Motherwell, I would watch that game again and be really disappointed. I think it was too bad that they were given that penalty. They[Celtic]were very lucky in that aspect and we have to realize that we’re up for anything.”
Meanwhile, Rangers icon Boyd said: “I can honestly say that my head would fly off at that pace…If it hit my hand it would fall right in front of me, but it doesn’t fly like that.”Three big calls in the last three games.”Saturday’s penalty at Motherwell K (Hearts didn’t go in), the red card against Alistair Johnstone on Saturday (against Rangers) and that tonight – it’s unbelievable. There will be serious questions about that and rightly so.
“His hands are high, but if they hit your hands, you’re two or three yards down in front of him. At the pace we’re going, that’s not going to happen. In the 97th minute of the extra five minutes…another questionable call in Celtic’s favor. If you throw the ball to someone and it hits their hands, the ball drops a couple of yards in front of you.”
“It’s impossible to get it that far off the hand. There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t be 100 percent sure that he saw it and it hit the hand. We’re looking and we’re looking at so many angles (we’re not sure). Again, three big calls in the last three games. It’s totally baffling to me. Don’t take anything away from Iheanacho. It’s a great penalty.”
Hearts’ all-time top goalscorer John Robertson, sitting alongside Boyd, added: “I don’t know if it hit the hand or not, but I think it was the head. The hand is up and if it hit the hand, it’s a penalty. I don’t think it was a handball. It was the head! It’s not clearly obvious. It looks like an error.”
“As I said at the beginning, I thought both teams would win. It looked like Hearts did what they were supposed to do, but it ended up being Celtic. It felt like a defeat because it was the last kick of the game and it’s heartbreaking. Celtic had to win 3-0 to win the title.”
However, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill (74) said: “The penalty looked pretty clear. Did they give it for handball? There was an elbow strike there too.”
Gary Lineker supported Boyd and McInnes, writing on X (formerly Twitter): “This may be the worst VAR call I’ve seen (and there’s a lot of competition). Extraordinary considering the importance.”
