Celtic no penalty call for Ben Davies Rangers 'handball' debated as pundits split

The decision not to award Celtic a penalty for a 'handball' by Rangers' Ben Davies has been called as the correct one in a unanimous pundit verdict.

Davies was defending his box as Kyogo got a flick on onto a cross into the box and it spun up and onto the central defender's arm. But his limb was right at his side which would probably be labelled a natural position. At the same time, they've definitely been given and it wouldn't have been much of a surprise to see a delay for a VAR review, but that didn't come.

Co-commentators Michael Stewart and Alan Hutton both agreed a penalty would have been harsh but were also surprised given what we've seen before with VAR. The pundits in the Premier Sports studio were more of a split opinion as they debated it at half-time.

Neil Lennon was conflicted but arrived at the conclusion that the officials were correct. He said: "Ben's arm is out in an unnatural position. There's nothing he can do about it but we've seen them given. And that's the whole confusion about handball. Me personally, back a couple of years ago we'd be saying that's not a penalty because there's nothing he can do about it but the introduction of VAR I've seen them given. The decision has gone Rangers' way and probably the right one."

Allan McGregor explained: "We've seen worse ones given than that. But it is the rule and it's probably a subjective rule. So you're going to get ones that worse than that and ones exactly like that given. I don't like it to be perfectly honest with you."

And asked if he would have been appealing if on the pitch, Scott Brown added: "100 per cent. I think Rangers would be the same at the other end. I think it is a penalty in today's game. I agree with Lenny and Greegsy that it's harsh but I think it is."