Martin O’Neill furious with Douglas Ross after controversial Easter Road offside call

Martin O’Neill has criticised the officiating and VAR decisions from Celtic F.C.’s dramatic 2-1 win over Hibernian F.C. at Easter Road, claiming his side had to overcome several setbacks to secure victory.

The Celtic boss was particularly frustrated by the decision to initially disallow Daizen Maeda’s opening goal after assistant referee Douglas Ross flagged for offside before VAR later overturned the call.

Speaking after the match, O’Neill suggested Ross had been poorly positioned during the incident, claiming the linesman was “about four yards off the pace” when he raised his flag.

Reflecting on the game, the former Celtic manager admitted the encounter had been far from straightforward and pointed to several contentious moments throughout the afternoon.

O’Neill also voiced frustration over what he believed was a missed penalty decision after Benjamin Nygren appeared to be pushed inside the box.

Despite the controversies, Celtic managed to come through the difficult trip with all three points as they continued their push at the top end of the Scottish Premiership table.

The 73-year-old also touched on the atmosphere surrounding Old Firm fixtures, reiterating his long-standing belief that both Rangers F.C. and Celtic should return to offering full away allocations to supporters for derby matches at both Ibrox Stadium and Celtic Park.