Martin O'Neill's complaints about two refereeing decisions in Celtic's 2-1 Europa League defeat to Celta Vigo have been backed by pundits and former players, who questioned whether the VAR team properly reviewed the flashpoints.
The veteran manager was unhappy with referee Georg Kabakov after the loss at Celtic Park, pointing to a missed foul on Callum Osmand in the box and an infraction on Camilo Duran before Celta's equalising free-kick.
Penalty Claims and VAR Inaction
Osmand went down under contact from Javi Rueda inside the area, with appeals for a penalty and claims of DOGSO (Denying a Goal Scoring Opportunity) if the contact was outside the box. A red card for Rueda and a free-kick on the edge of the area would likely have followed had the officials agreed.
Bulgarian referee Kabakov waved away the claims, and the German VAR team at Celtic Park opted not to intervene.
Celtic legend Pat Bonner questioned whether the incident was even checked, telling BBC Sportsound: "There is no way that was a dive. He is running at pace, the hand was on the back - he has almost pushed him over. Whether he is inside the box or outside the box I am not 100 per cent sure, but certainly for me that was a foul. Did he check it?"
Pundits and Players Weigh In
James McFadden also saw a foul, saying: "It looked like a foul. Sam Johnstone pings a brilliant ball to Duran, who pings it around the corner for Osmand. He is driving at the heart of the defence for Rodriguez and is shaping as if he is going to cut back into his right foot."
"There is a recovering defender who pushes him, I am amazed. He is driving into the box. He does really well, Osmand."
O'Neill was booked for protesting the foul on Duran in the build-up to the leveller. Stiliyan Petrov backed the boss's complaint, telling TNT Sports: "He has got a point. There was a couple of decisions...as he talks about. But, if you look at the picture as the whole picture Celtic haven't done enough to win the game. There is a lot of negatives in the way Celtic play, especially when they are trying to chase [an equaliser]. They were overstretched and made it easier for the opposition."
O'Neill's Verdict on the Calls
The 74-year-old said: "We conceded a free-kick but I thought that just seconds before that, we had a foul for us. The referee has disowned that and given them a foul about ten seconds later. Then they score from the free-kick."
"I think it's a foul against Osmand in the first half. The referee says VAR were checking it. I don't know what they're checking because for me that's a very obvious foul."
