Celtic stretched their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 18 points with a late flurry of goals in a 4-1 victory over Ross County in Dingwall. However, the game wasn’t without its share of drama—and an eyebrow-raising stance from Sky Sports pundit James McFadden.
The match saw two penalties awarded via VAR—one for each side—but McFadden’s reaction to Celtic’s second-half penalty decision has left fans scratching their heads.
With the match level at 1-1, Celtic’s Hyun-Jun Yang was clearly fouled in the Ross County box by James Brown, who failed to touch the ball while bringing the South Korean winger down.
The referee initially missed the incident, but after a 4-minute VAR review, a penalty was rightly awarded.
Yet McFadden, doing co-commentary for Sky Sports, insisted, “Not for me” and “I’m not so sure about that” even as replays showed the defender getting nowhere near the ball while tangling with Yang.
Just minutes earlier, Ross County had been awarded a penalty of their own after Alistair Johnston clumsily went through the back of Kieran Phillips. There were no complaints from Celtic about the decision, and it was quickly confirmed by VAR.
What left fans bemused was McFadden’s inconsistency. The Yang penalty appeared just as clear—if not more so—than the one awarded to County. The defender made no contact with the ball and tripped Yang, a textbook penalty by most standards.
