Stiliyan Petrov slams referee after Celtic penalty controversy against Celta Vigo

Former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov has questioned referee Georgi Kabakov’s performance after the Hoops suffered a controversial 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo in the Europa League on Thursday night.

The major talking point came during the first half at Celtic Park, when Callum Osmand appeared to be brought down by Javi Rueda while advancing towards goal.

Celtic players immediately appealed for a penalty, but Bulgarian referee Kabakov allowed play to continue. VAR also decided against intervening, leaving the home side frustrated by the outcome.

The decision prompted a strong response from Petrov, who raised concerns about UEFA’s choice of official for the European fixture.

Speaking on TNT Sports at half-time, the former Celtic captain questioned Kabakov’s experience and consistency, suggesting the incident deserved closer scrutiny.

Petrov said: “I just don’t know how he (Kabakov) hasn’t seen it. There are a lot of questions about Kabakov as he has only refereed four games in the Bulgarian League and six in the Europa League. I don’t know what UEFA are looking into (when they pick referees) but you need to have the consistency to make a decision.

“(The foul) is probably outside the box but can they even look at it being a red card? Osmand is going through and I think it’s a really, really poor decision.”

Petrov was not the only pundit who disagreed with the decision, as former Celtic manager Neil Lennon also expressed his frustration during the broadcast.

Lennon believed the incident should have resulted in a free-kick or a penalty, arguing that there was sufficient contact to warrant a foul.

He said: “That is beyond me that (why it’s not a penalty). It’s either a foul outside the box or a penalty.

“Why does he (Osmand) go down? He doesn’t need to. He is going straight into the box and there is definitely contact, we can see it from up here in the gantry. I don’t know what the referee is seeing. Any touch at all can bring you down sometimes as you lose balance.”

Hearts defender Craig Halkett, who was also part of the TNT Sports punditry team, shared their concerns and suggested Rueda was fortunate not to concede a foul.

Halkett felt the defender had made enough contact to disrupt Osmand’s progress towards goal, leaving Celtic with a legitimate reason to feel aggrieved.

He added: “He (the defender) was obviously trying to put Osmand off but I think there was more than a little bit of contact there.

“You can see the push when Osmand is running through on goal. He has no other reason to go down so I think the defender is really lucky to get away with that.”

The incident has added to the frustration surrounding Celtic’s defeat, with Petrov, Lennon and Halkett all questioning why the officials did not award a foul during the first half.