It was a low-key one to unpack from the referee's standpoint but Gallagher poured over the two big decisions
'Marvellous' John Beaton disarmed a fiery derby on Sunday by letting the right things go, according to Dermot Gallagher and the ref watch panel.
Celtic ran riot with a comfortable 3-0 win over Rangers to assert some early dominance in the title race. In a derby so often dominated by blood-rush tackles, card flashpoints and VAR controversy, it was a relatively low-key one to unpack from the referee's standpoint.
The Hoops' early disallowed goal was the first of those two with Kyogo denied by a tight offside. Replays showed he had leaned just over after the goal was initially given, and Gallagher believes it's that kind of decision in which VAR proves its worth. He said: "This is where you need VAR. You can understand the referee not seeing this in real time, the speed it builds up at. There's no way he can look at that and go 'yes, that's offside.
"What I would also say about this game is that the referee was brilliant. He let it flow, he let it play out and didn't get sucked into anything. A marvellous refereeing performance. He let it breathe from the first minute. He let players challenge, and because of that, they didn't take advantage." In the later stages, there were shouts for a handball from the home players and crowd when sub James Forrest's shot appeared to strike John Souttar's arm. But Beaton deemed that it was too close to the defender to give it and Gallagher said: "Very close . Does it hit him on the arm? If it does, it's certainly very close. It's a natural position, it's where you would expect. The referee waved it away straight away and VAR backed him.
Celtic FC Rangers FC John Beaton VAR James Forrest John Souttar
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