Unseen Mohamed Diomande Celtic vs Rangers moment addressed by ex-refs as Hoops fans pose card question

Celtic fans thought they had identified an unseen moment in which Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande should have picked up a card in the derby - but have been clamped by two former referees.

As ever after an Old Firm derby, fans like to pore over footage to find incidents they can talk about and raise questions over. Despite their latest win and continued dominance in the fixture, that includes Hoops supporters and one couldn't believe there wasn't a card for Diomande after one challenge in the middle of the park.

The midfielder rammed into the back of Reo Hatate with his forearm making contact with the Japan international's shoulder area and sending him to the floor. A free-kick was awarded at the time but no further action taken by referee Willie Collum or the VAR team watching on in their studio.

One Celts supporter was incredulous and shared the clip online, adding: "How in god’s name is this not a yellow card for Diomande?" Another latched onto it and decided to bring in former whistlers Steve Conroy and Des Roache, tagging the account for their Behind the Whistles podcast and asking: "Thoughts on this? I would be interested in the interpretation of this from a pro's point of view."

The response came: "A thud on the back. In isolation some refs may give a yellow. A Rangers fan will point out in a moment Hatate pulled a Rangers players shirt while on a yellow. But that’s why you need a ref to manage the game or you end up with 8v8, we just said that on the podcast.

"Post game you can find yellow card argument offences everywhere. The ref game management part is massive in a game that can become a powder keg. You start flash in a yellow, set precedent early, the games gone you end up a couple off in each team. Ref's not there to ruin the game."

After a further enquiry from a fan, they added: "Don’t card count we look at each game and incidents on its own merit. As we already said Rangers fans will only counter this with clips of ones they believe a Celtic player should be booked for. Overall Wullie managed a massive game well. Wasn’t ruined by start/stop and a raft of cards."