Celtic star told he was lucky to avoid red card vs Rangers after 'late and reckless' challenge on Ibrox ace
A Celtic star’s challenge on a Rangers ace has been put under the microscope by ex-referees.
A clutch of former referees have weighed in on whether or not a Celtic star could have been sent off against Rangers.
The Light Blues blew their rivals away in the Old Firm on Sunday. Dan Neil’s double and Kevin Kelsy’s second half strike sealed a comfortable 3-0 win in a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox that puts boss Derek McInnes on a collision course with ex-side Aberdeen in the semi-finals. Hearts or Hibs await in the final.
Former refs have had a look at a Mika Baur and Ryan Naderi collision during the game. Baur won a free-kick after going to ground with the Rangers striker but The Ref’s View, operated by ex-officials Des Roache and Steve Conroy, believe Celtic’s midfielder was lucky. Their X account states that it should have been red for the Hoops man who made contact on Naderi.
Could Celtic star have been sent off vs Rangers?
They state ‘Red card, certainly isn’t a foul the other way, which was the on-field decision.’ Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has also weighed in on the decision by match official Nick Walsh, and while he doesn’t think it was sending off worthy, certainly thinks it was a reckless movement by Baur. A booking would have sufficed for him.
He told GRV Media: “This was a poor judgment to award Celtic a free kick when the foul was actually committed by Mika Baur. His challenge on Rangers’ Ryan Naderi was late and reckless, which lacked some degree of speed, force and malice needed to meet the criteria for a red card.
“Slow motion can always look worse when looking at tackles, but I believe the referee got this challenge wrong, and a minimum of a yellow card should have been shown to Baur.”
Martin O’Neill on Rangers 3-0 Celtic
Speaking on the defeat, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill said: "We were well beaten. The 3-0 scoreline doesn't hide it, it was a tough afternoon for us. We were well in the game early on, even at half time, but they were stronger than us on the day and they deserved to win.
"I think throughout the first half we, in really good positions, gave the ball away, we had three or four brilliant opportunities on the counter-attack and wasted them. Everything Rangers did I expected them to do. Whatever way Rangers set up, they're not going to give me a call and say what they're going to do so we had to counter that.”
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