Brendan Rodgers spots Celtic clue that the ball wasn't out as boss demands VAR proof
Raging Brendan Rodgers has demanded to see definitive proof that Celtic’s controversially disallowed Easter Road equaliser should not have stood.
The Parkhead boss thought his side had mounted a remarkable recovery from two goals down in Leith when Daizen Maeda slammed home with seven minutes left. But it was Hibs left celebrating when VAR official Alan Muir stepped in to order referee Steven McLean to chalk the goal off after insisting the ball was out of play before Alastair Johnston had crossed to his Japanese team-mate.
That debatable decision incensed Hoops gaffer Rodgers, who claimed the angles of the TV replays failed to show clear evidence that the ball had definitely crossed the line. He marched onto the pitch at full-time and could be seen giving McLean a finger wagging. And speaking afterwards, the Irishman continued to vent as he said: “I'm hoping to see conclusive evidence that it was out.
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“The linesman on this side clearly had one of the best views in the ground. And he kept his flag down, which tells me that he felt it was in. Not all of the ball was out. So if it's the case, then you've got to go and review it with VAR.
“But then you're taking an angle from the 18-yard line. If you're taking the angle from the 18-yard line, and you can tell me that you can absolutely see 100 percent, then you're having a guess.
“These are big games to be guessing, especially at this point in the season. So we were disappointed with that, and that's what killed our momentum a little bit. I felt it was very harsh on the team.
“It was disappointing to have the official overruled in that moment. We were in a great moment. We get to 2-2, then we've still got enough time to go and find a winner.”
Asked what he’d been told by McLean, Rodgers added: “He just said afterwards that it was a VAR decision, that it was factually out.
“Which will be interesting from the 18-yard line, if you don't have the actual images. That's what I'm saying. I don't want to be overly critical until someone produces an actual piece of evidence that tells us the ball was conclusively out.”=
Rodgers also refused to point the finger at his players despite a lacklustre first 45 minutes consigning Celts to just a second domestic defeat of the season. Josh Campbell slotted Hibs ahead inside two minutes before nodding home a second on the stroke of half-time.
Maeda did pull one back but there was more frustration for a team still reeling from Tuesday night’s Munich heartbreaker after crashing out of the Champions League to Bayern’s late, late show at the Allianz Arena. Rodgers said: “We had a disappointing start but a very good second half.
“The first half probably cost us that early part of the game. Obviously, disappointed with the goal that was disallowed, which obviously our momentum was high in that point of the game.
“Congratulations to Hibs because they defended very well, defended the box well, and we just couldn't quite break them down enough. But listen, these players have been brilliant for me. They absolutely have.
“We're disappointed with our start to the game, because you know when you come away to tight grounds away from home, you have to make a good start. We conceded an awful goal and that gives the crowd a little something to hang on to. We had some good moments in the first half, but not too many.
“Then we conceded a disappointing goal right on half-time. So we have a bit of work to do then. In the second half, we were excellent. We were much more like our game and got the goal. Like I say, we were much, much better.”
Rodgers - who recalled Adam Idah, Greg Taylor and Luke McCowan to his starting line-up, only to hook all three at half-time - added: “Again, those guys have scored really important goals for me this season and they've performed well.
“I'm having to manage guys like Jota coming back. Jeffrey Sloop too. So there's a recovery in that and you're trying to manage the game time of players.
“But I'm not going to criticise the three guys, because they've been very important players in our squad this season. Listen, it's football. It's sport. We were brilliant during the week.
“Today, we don't want to have any excuse for fatigue, tiredness. You're at a big club, you've got to get used to being tired and playing through that. Today, we just weren't quite on it.”
