Martin O’Neill backed over two controversial Celtic refereeing decisions after Celta Vigo defeat

Martin O’Neill has received support for his complaints about two key refereeing decisions during Celtic’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Celta Vigo.

The experienced Celtic manager was left frustrated with Bulgarian referee Georg Kabakov after the Hoops suffered another disappointing night in Europe. O’Neill questioned why a potential foul on Callum Osmand was not punished, while also believing Camilo Duran had been fouled in the build-up to Celta’s equalising goal.

The incident involving Osmand occurred during the first half when the Celtic forward went down inside the penalty area following contact from Javi Rueda. Celtic players and supporters immediately appealed for a spot-kick, but the referee allowed play to continue.

There was also debate over whether the incident could have warranted a red card for Rueda if the contact had occurred outside the box. Had the defender been judged to have denied Osmand a clear goalscoring opportunity, Celtic could have been awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position, with the Celta player potentially sent off.

However, Kabakov dismissed the appeals, and the German VAR officials did not recommend an on-field review.

Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner questioned whether the incident had been properly examined by the officials.

Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Bonner insisted that Osmand had not simply gone to ground without reason.

He said: “There is no way that was a dive. He is running at pace, the hand was on the back – he has almost pushed him over. Whether he is inside the box or outside the box I am not 100 per cent sure, but certainly for me that was a foul. Did he check it?”

Former Scotland international James McFadden also felt Celtic had a case, pointing to the sequence of play that led to the incident.

McFadden explained that Sam Johnstone had played an excellent pass towards Duran, who then linked up with Osmand as the youngster drove towards the Celta defence.

With Osmand attempting to take on Rodriguez and move into a dangerous position, McFadden was surprised that the contact from a recovering defender did not result in a foul.

Meanwhile, O’Neill was visibly unhappy with the decision to award Celta the free-kick from which they drew level. The Celtic boss was booked for his protests after believing Duran had been fouled shortly before the visitors were awarded the set-piece.

Former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov agreed that O’Neill had grounds to question the officiating, although he also highlighted wider problems with the team’s performance.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Petrov said the manager had a legitimate point regarding the decisions but stressed that Celtic had not done enough to deserve victory.

He also criticised the team’s approach when attempting to get back into the contest, arguing that Celtic became too stretched and left themselves vulnerable to Celta’s attacks.

O’Neill, 74, later explained his frustration with the sequence that led to the visitors’ equaliser.

The Celtic manager said: “We conceded a free-kick but I thought that just seconds before that, we had a foul for us. The referee has disowned that and given them a foul about ten seconds later. They score from the free-kick.”

He also returned to the first-half incident involving Osmand, questioning the decision not to award Celtic a foul.

“I think it’s a foul against Osmand in the first half. The referee says VAR were checking it. I don’t know what they’re checking because for me that’s a very obvious foul.”

Although O’Neill’s complaints have received backing from former Celtic players, the defeat leaves the club with further questions to answer after another difficult European outing. The disputed decisions have added to the frustration surrounding the result, but Petrov’s assessment also underlined the need for Celtic to improve their overall performance.