Leigh Griffiths was denied a debut day goal by a linesman’s flag during Celtic’s 3-0 win over St Johnstone.
With Celtic leading 3-0 and the game entering the closing stages the former Wolves striker judged his run perfectly to meet a pass from Kris Commons before racing on to put the ball in the net.
Griffiths’ run and movement was perfect but unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for the linesman on the North Stand who raised his flag despite being perfectly placed to judge the incident.
Unfortunately the SPFL decided not to include that incident in their match highlights.
That decision wasn’t the only major decision that the officials got wrong with Stevie McLean, whose younger brother chose to play for Northern Ireland rather than Scotland, bottling out of awarding Celtic a penalty early in the second half when Stokes was chopped down just inside the penalty box.
A debut goal would have capped off a perfect day for the striker but he now has the mouthwatering opportunity to open his Celtic account at Tynecastle on Saturday and hammer in another nail into the relegation coffin of the Gorgie tax dodgers.
That opportunity won’t be lost on the striker who was in good company yesterday as a new look Celtic side illustrated their determination to complete the campaign undefeated.
“When you see Leigh’s performance, he was just the energy bunny,” Neil Lennon said. “He was everywhere and as the game continued he got more and more confident and he was very unlucky not to get the goal that was given offside, but his all-round game was excellent.
“And Stokesy’s been looking for that – for someone to play with at times. He had a great relationship with Gary Hooper and we’re hoping Leigh and him will form a good bond between the two of them.
“Stokey’s always got goals in him but the way he’s been playing in the last month or so, we’ve been very pleased with his all-round game, and now he’s getting the goals to add to his performances.”
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Quite impressed with Celtic yesterday, Stokes took his goals really well & Johansen & Biton caught the eye….Johansen likes to play the forward pass so should be on the bench next week 🙂
Would like to see Darnell Fisher get more game time, I like Fisher & he has a real chance, hopefully Danny Mcgrain will be mentoring Darnell on the right back position, tho Darnell might require the help of subtitles or a translator 🙂
Derk Boerrigter is another who should be bursting a gut to get in the team…come on sicknote, finger out!
Tal.
i am the only fan that is thankful for the linesmans honest mistake as it is the first time this season that i got the correct scoreline at odds of 7to1 biton and johansen played well and brown was able to get forward as well
Can’t believe I’m going to say this but.. after seeing it on tv in replays and the pic above.. that was a nightmare to judge and we can moan about benefit of doubt for the striker but I know if it was killie or Aberdeen or hertz bearing down on fraser we’d be applauding a good decision
Maybe so,but it’s their job to get it RIGHT but they DIDN’T!!
Honest mistake tho…..( cough )
Definitely benefit to the striker especially when he’s first man how much daylight did he see between them the camera was dead in line with this and I screamed a goal but superman on the touchline seen different superb movement he’s gonna score loads and played magic with stokes
Agree,Mony re ‘ phantom ‘ goal.
Does the linesman know the rules ?
Or his he one of them ?
Arms do not count, as being offside. Fact.
The ref, who we know as one of them, has
NO EXCUSE for not awarding a penalty when Stokes was clearly inside the box.
He was standing 5 YARDS away.Shocking !!
It was like old times,at CP yesterday, with
the GB back.If it is good enough for Lenny
to have them back, it is good enough for
me.
Monti, I disagree re Boerrigter.He should
have scored.And IMO is a waste of money.
I would gladly sell ( who would buy ? ) , or
loan him,Pukki and Balde.
I can see us buying a 5M target man in the
summer.You need 4 strikers.Add Stokes,
Griffiths and Watt and you have a forward
line,you can mix and match.
Hi Peter,
I know what your saying regarding Boerrigter, all I’m saying tho is I would like to see him do well, like you I have my doubts but he isn’t the first player to start slow then go on to do well for us! HH!
Thankfully, the decisions didn’t effect the outcome of the game. Leigh will get his goal, sooner than later. More concerning was the Saints players with 6,7 maybe 8 fouls no card.
I watched the “world’s best” referee Howard Webb yesterday decide the outcome of a game. 3 major decisions, 3 wrong.
@Ciaran
Griffiths will get a hat trick v Hearts next week, put a £10 on it!
Monti, lend us a tenner mate!!!!! lol