Celtic's Alistair Johnston escaped a red card despite a controversial challenge against Ross County, sparking debate among fans and pundits. Referee Willie Collum defended his decision, stating it was not deemed an 'obvious' goal-scoring opportunity, while former Rangers player Kris Boyd criticized the lack of action, arguing it should have been a straight red.
Willie Collum has defended the match officials' decision not to give Celtic star Alistair Johnston a red card during their victory over Ross County . Despite a confused reaction from former Rangers player Kris Boyd during the Premiership match at Dingwall, Collum maintains the call was correct. In the second half, Johnston brought down Ross County substitute Kieran Phillips on the goal line, conceding a penalty.
Matthew McDermid pointed to the spot, but chose not to issue a red card to the Celtic player. Jordan White stepped up to take the penalty, giving the Staggies a glimmer of hope before Brendan Rodgers' men clinched a 4-1 victory.Boyd expressed his disagreement with the referee's decision on Sky Sports, stating, 'I cannot understand why that's not a red card - cannot understand. There's no attempt to play the ball and it's denying him a goal scoring opportunity. He said it himself, there's a little nudge in the back. He knew straight away, and yes, they get back to 1-1 but Celtic should be down to 10 men now. Jordan White, great composure. He had to wait a long time to take that penalty because I think they go round the house trying to find something wrong with it didn't they? But you can see there's absolutely no attempt to play the ball there. No attempt.' Speaking on the SFA's VAR Review, Collum explained his reasoning to Boyd: “The key thing for us here is about the word ‘obvious’— an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. There’s no doubt it is an opportunity, but when the foul happens, the ball is in mid-air, only just coming into the penalty area. “For us, there is not enough to say that at that stage this is obvious. This is not where a player has the ball right in front of them about to tap it into the goal. “A lot of people might disagree with that, but we’re aligning ourselves with UEFA’s thinking and the understanding given by FIFA about denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. They do not want a red card for this kind of scenario.
Alistair Johnston Celtic Ross County Kris Boyd Red Card Referee Decision VAR Premiership
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