Brendan Rodgers was left disappointed with the standard of refereeing during Celtic’s shock defeat to Hibs

Runaway Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic suffered a shock 2-1 defeat when they faced Hibs in the capital over the weekend.

It marks a week to forget for Brendan Rodgers and his side who also suffered the heartbreak of a Champions League exit against Bayern Munich despite a spirited and determined performance at the Allianz Arena.

Celtic were not quite at the races against an in-form Hibs team that scored twice through Josh Campbell in the first half. However, they came out in the second interval with renewed belief and got back into the game through a goal from Daizen Maeda in the 68th minute.

The Japanese international thought he had scored a brace in the final moments of the contest only to have the goal ruled out by VAR, who claimed that Alistair Johnston had allowed the ball to go out of play during the build-up to the goal.

Brendan Rodgers launches scathing criticism of officials

At the end of an entertaining clash at Easter Road, Brendan Rodgers, who suffered just his second league defeat of the season, expressed his anger at the officials for taking a guess with the crucial decision without having any conclusive evidence.

“My take is that the official Alan Muir has had a guess at it. The linesman arguably has the best view in the stadium and he doesn't give it,” Said Rodgers, via the Daily Record.

"So for that to get overturned I am assuming there is an absolute clear image of the ball being out of play. In my experience up here with VAR, you don't have all the angles and they don't have the equipment to say it was conclusively out. So you are actually viewing it from a secondary position and at that point you are then having a guess. That is the huge disappointment."

Celtic update emerges after refereeing controversy

In the aftermath of Celtic’s defeat to Hibs, footage has emerged showing that the referee was correct to disallow Daizen Maeda’s late strike.

A freeze frame of Johnston getting his foot to the ball from behind appears to show that whole ball was in fact over the line before he was able to deliver into the box.

Celtic return to Premiership action with a home clash against third placed Aberdeen, the Dons have recently returned to form with two consecutive victories and will have high hopes of securing European football qualification.