Celtic walked away from Ibrox on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 victory and three crucial Scottish Premiership points. A Glasgow Derby wouldn’t be a Glasgow Derby without controversy, though, and there was no shortage of that at the weekend.
Midway through the first half, Hoops defender Gustaf Lagerbielke lost out inside his own final third to Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers. Despite play going on and a goal (that was initially given) being scored, upon VAR review, a foul was awarded against Dessers.
Such a decision has caused a plethora of outrage which former Celtic right-back Mark Wilson is shocked at. He said (Sky Sports): “I really can’t believe the debate on this. I think when you analyse it really Lagerbielke is dilly-dallying on the ball, it looks like he’s in trouble. But when he goes to clear the ball you Dessers come across him and plant his foot and nick the ball.”
At first glance, the foul is admittedly difficult to see but as Wilson states, it is simple to notice why a free kick was given to Celtic for the incident. Sweden internationalist Lagerbielke was clearly fouled, something many can’t get their heads around. On this, Wilson said: “I’m amazed at the reaction that it got and some people going the other way.”
Every derby it seems as though there is a decision that creates a debacle. The trip-up on Lagerbeilke is the incident of that ilk this time around, although there should really be no debate surrounding it. The 23-year-old was tripped, the goal was disallowed, and Celtic went on to win the match fairly.
