According to Dermot Gallagher, Hibs cannot be upset with Celtic’s penalty call from last night’s crushing at Parkhead.

After a thrashing at the hands of Brendan Rodgers at McDiarmid Park, the Hoops were back to their best as they won 4-1, scoring two goals in each half. Soon after halftime, Luis Palma put the match out of reach with a spotkick after Lewis Stevenson had taken out Alistair Johnston in the box.

John Beaton missed the flashpoint at the time, but during a VAR review, the whistler indicated the location, and Palma scored. After seeing the episode on Ref Watch this afternoon, former Premier League whistler Gallagher feels that the final decision was the right one.

“He [Stevenson] catches him with the back leg as he slides in,” he said to Sky Sports. The referee is searching among a great number of bodies there. The referee fails to observe Kyogo raise his arms in the air for a penalty. He is directed to gaze at the screen by VAR.

“Too many players, in my opinion, are in between. The person in the middle, Kyogo, is actually appealing for a penalty, but he is unable to see the direct line. ‘I can’t see clearly,’ he would communicate back to VAR. ‘Well, he’s removed his back leg and you’ll need to go and have a look,’ the VAR would then remark. After examining it, he assesses the penalty.

Towards the end, Elie Youan’s cutback was converted by substitute Christian Doidge to give Hibs a consoling goal. Joe Hart, the goalie for the Hoops, raised the offside flag, but replays proved the linesman was correct to call it.

Gallagher went on: “VAR looks into it, but the assistant deserves credit because this was an on-field choice that resulted in a goal. You can see how close Doidge is to the goal. However, the helper deserves recognition. He said, “Goal,” and kept his flag down.”

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