Celtic’s 4-1 win over Hearts at Tynecastle ended with a rare incident involving an assistant referee, leading to an unexpected and frustrating delay late in the match.
With three minutes remaining, the linesman pulled a thigh muscle while running the line, forcing the fourth official to step in. [SunSport]
The substitution of officials caused a four-minute delay as the fourth official changed into the assistant referee’s uniform and prepared to take over. Players from both sides were left waiting on the pitch during the interruption, with both Brendan Rodgers and Hearts manager Neil Critchley expressing frustration at the disruption.
Despite the unusual stoppage, Celtic maintained their focus and secured a commanding win.
Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring, while Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah added to the tally.
The result was a statement of intent from the Hoops, who now sit three points clear at the top of the Premiership table following Aberdeen’s earlier loss to St Mirren.
Celtic were far from their best today, but they still got the job done, and that’s what matters.
The league will be put to the back of the player’s minds now, though.
Club Brugge, who are in good form themselves, travel to Glasgow this week to face the Hoops on Wednesday.
