Strachan: ‘That’s as blatant as it gets’ over Brown penalty incident

Gordon Strachan couldn’t believe what he was watching as referee Alan Muir denied Celtic two clear cut second half penalties at Motherwell today.

A first half goal from Nadir Ciftci took the hoops to the top of the Premiership but it was the performance of Muir that amazed the players, supporters, pundits and television audience.

Six minutes into the second half Scott Brown was cynically chopped down by Kieran Kennedy around the penalty spot- play on said Muir after appearing to point at the penalty spot.

  Just before the hour mark Kris Commons cut the ball back into the path of Ciftci with Kennedy sticking out his arm to prevent the Celtic player from putting the ball in the net- again Murir waved play on.  

Both incidents were clear penalties denying goalscoring opportunities.

Muir has had previous problems with penalty incidents, in April at Hampden he failed to spot Josh Meekings punching away a goal bound header from Leigh Griffiths as Celtic were knocked out the Scottish Cup by Inverness Caley Thistle.

Strachan was part of the BT Sport team covering the match and could hardly believe what he witnessed.

“That’s as blatant as it gets,” the Scotland boss said as he laughed through a replay of the Brown incident. “Celtic should have won by more goals today but Motherwell’s doggedness plus Celtic’s inability to convert their chances, plus the officials made it a 1-0 today.

“After those two penalty shouts Motherwell thought ‘this could be our day’. It could have been two or three nothing but they got a bit of life.

“Those type of decisions can cause problems, players can get rash and annoyed. I thought that Celtic composed themselves well after that. Sometimes players can get upset, shouting at the referee. I thought that Scott Brown’s reaction was first class.”

Fellow pundit Stephen Craigan added: “You can’t miss those in games, that could be crucial, that could go for a title or whatever.”