Bobby Madden reckons Kyogo was lucky to escape unpunished after a nasty collision with Aberdeen’s Ross Doohan.
Stand-in keeper Doohan suffered a heavy knock in the opening minutes after being clattered by the onrushing Celtic striker. Kyogo’s knee caught the ex-Hoops youngster on the head as the pair battled for a loose ball inside the Dons penalty area. Brave Doohan managed to recover and play the rest of the game, making a string of impressive stops, before being undone by Reo Hatate’s late winner.
Yet while the coming together with Kyogo appeared to be completely accidental, ex-SPFL whistler Madden claims the Japanese star should have been yellow carded and could have even pulled out of the challenge. He wrote on Instagram: “Yellow for me. Reckless and shows a disregard for the opponent. Keeper has possession and I believe there is an opportunity to avoid contact.”
Former Premier League whistler Dermot Gallagher adopted a different view as he examined last night’s three main flashpoints on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch. Gallagher insisted ref Don Robertson handled the incident correctly by keeping his cards in his pocket despite groans from the Aberdeen crowd.
He said: “The referee has dealt with it really well because if you look, one player’s coming one way and one player’s going another. They’ve both got to go for the ball and there’s going to be the inevitable collision, there’s no doubt about that. There’s nothing they can do. I think the referee has felt, it’s one of those things where they come together, it doesn’t look nice but what can he do?”
While Celts had to wait until the 78th minute to break the deadlock, the champions-elect did have the ball in the net in the first-half, only for Paulo Bernardo’s wicked corner to be ruled out with Daizen Maeda muscling Doohan out of the way.
Gallagher agreed with the outcome as he said: “Yeah. If you look first and think, is there enough? But Maeda actually backs into him and the goalkeeper has nowhere to go. The goalkeeper can’t make a punch. He did blow early before the ball went into the net.”
However, the Irishman felt Graeme Shinnie was lucky to avoid a second yellow for chopping down sub Arne Engels. He added: “I think he gets lucky because of where the ball goes. If you watch, the touch is heavy. So I think the referee just gives a trip. He doesn’t think he’s breaking up a promising attack, so on that basis he gives him the benefit of the doubt. Is it reckless? I think not. So I think the second player has actually saved him.”