John McGlynn lamented Steven McLean’s decision to dismiss Raith Rovers’ penalty claim against Celtic, insisting a dramatic leveller could have made the Scottish Cup clash ‘interesting’.
There were howls for a spot-kick when Cameron Carter-Vickers appeared to control a loose ball with his arm. However, the referee was unmoved.
With the incident occurring at 1-0 to the Hoops, an equaliser for Rovers may have changed the course of the contest, albeit Ange Postecoglou’s men were worthy winners.
Instead, the hosts cruised to a 4-0 triumph.
Adding insult to injury, Celtic were awarded a penalty for handball in the dying embers. Nir Bitton bundled home the fourth goal of the game after Jamie MacDonald saved the midfielder’s spot-kick.
Yellow card confusion at Celtic Park! 🟨
Celtic were awarded a penalty for a handball by Sean Mackie, who was already booked, but the yellow card seems to have gone to Ross Matthews, who didn't handle the ball 🤷 pic.twitter.com/6hv3ZlmocP
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) February 13, 2022
“By all accounts, having done a little bit of media downstairs, they are telling me that we had quite a good claim for a penalty kick,” said McGlynn.
“Television have told me it probably was [a penalty].
“It might have been interesting had we managed to go in at 1-1 at half time.
“It could be a case of ‘what if?’ What if we got the penalty and scored? Would it have upset the rhythm?”
Mistaken identity
Celtic’s penalty was awarded after Sean Mackie — making his debut following a loan switch from Hibs — was deemed to have blocked a Jota shot with his arm.
Bizarrely, referee McLean erroneously booked Ross Matthews when Mackie, already on a caution, would have received his marching orders but for the case of mistaken identity.
It was an eventful bow for Mackie, who has been signed to ease Rovers’ mounting defensive crisis.
Christophe Berra is out with a calf strain.
Tom Lang will be sidelined until October after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
And McGlynn revealed that Kyle Benedictus limped off with a recurrence of a hamstring issue against Celtic.
“It looks like Kyle Benedictus has done his hamstring again,” rued McGlynn. “You are just thinking ‘wow’ — it’s quite frightening.
“It’s something he had a while ago and it’s a recurrence.
“We had five centre-backs and now we are so short.
“So, it was a no-brainer to bring in Sean [Mackie]. We are in February and all we can do is domestic loans.
“To bring in someone like Sean — with Premiership experience — is something we are very happy with.
“But I would rather he went on the pitch in different circumstances, rather than because we’ve lost another centre-back.”
