Motherwell keeper reacts to crucial Celtic penalty incident as he insists 'a few people have said it's soft'
The incident happened as Motherwell succumbed to a 4-0 loss vs Celtic.
Motherwell goalkeeper Aston Oxborough has been left unsure over what he could have done to prevent a key Celtic penalty in defeat to the Hoops.
Brendan Rodgers’ side ran out 4-0 winners against Stuart Kettlewell’s visitors, who tamed the relentless champions at Parkhead for 45 minutes. Then as Yang came into the box, Oxborough made a challenge that referee Ross Hardie deemed a penalty.
VAR backed his call and Kettlewell believed the award leaned into soft territory, with Tawanda Maswanhise booked for diving in a similar incident at the other end. Arne Engels converted and then Celtic took control through Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and Reo Hatate efforts.
Oxborough told the Motherwell Times post-match: “Obviously, the penalty changes the game, really, because once they get that first goal it's hard to recover. I haven't seen it back so I can't really make too much comment on it.
“I think a few people have said it's soft. There was obviously contact, but I feel like he's just ran into my blind side, so I'm not really too sure what I can do. The strikers are clever now, they know the game, so yes, it's difficult.
“You kind of need to stop the bleeding when it goes to one or two, you can't really go any more, but it's obviously difficult. We are doing our best, but yes, we would have liked to stop the bleeding a bit better.”
Next up is a game against Rangers in this relentless fixture schedule. Oxborough added: “We're looking forward to it. It's just got to be a challenge really. We've started right in the league, so hopefully we can push through this period strong.
“You obviously have less time to debrief this one and go into the next one, but we're in every day, so we get through it. It's not too bad. Back-to-back is tough, but we're relishing it. We just need to dust ourselves down from this and bounce back quick.”