GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 23: Celtic Captain Callum McGregor lifts the Scottish Cup Trophy during the Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Dunfermline Athletic at Barclays Hampden, on May 23, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Celtic overcame Steven McLean at Hampden today to lift the Scottish Cup at Hampden.
It was a typical performance from the match referee as every marginal decision went in the direction of Celtic’s opponents.
Celtic had 67.8% possession but the free kick was only 8 v 7 in favour of the hoops.
Typical of McLean’s performance was an incident in the 6th minute when Daizen Maeda got in behind the Dunfermline defence.
As Maeda steadied himself to shoot he was bundled over in the penalty box by John Tod.
MCLEAN DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW
It was an obvious penalty, ignored by McLean and Matthew MacDermid on VAR.
Clearly the media hysteria over the last 10 days influenced McLean and MacDermid. An early penalty to Celtic would have triggered BBC Scotland, Sky Sports and TalkSPORT into a week of paranoid ramblings.
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— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) May 23, 2026
In the 19th minute there was no stopping Maeda.
A brilliantly weighted ball from Alistair Johnston fell behind the Dunfermline, Maeda was quickly onto it to lift the ball over Aston Oxbourgh into the empty net.
Nine minutes from the break Arne Engels doubled Celtic’s lead with a well placed shot from 22 yards.
At half-time Dunfermline sent on Chris Kane to add an additional physical element.
The former St Johnstone defender shows little on the ball but knows how to battle and draw opponents out of position.
In the 52nd minute he wrested Auston Trusty to the ground. McLean obliged with a booking for the Celtic defender.
Celtic went 3-0 in front in the 73rd minute through Kelechi Iheanacho.
Dunfermline pulled a goal back in the 80th minute through Josh Cooper with McLean ignoring a kick on Kieran Tierney’s heel in the build up.
McLean and his SFA colleagues have been ignored by FIFA for the World Cup Finals with 170 officials called up to cover 104 matches.
Sorry Joe. I saw the incident clearly at the time and I think McLean’s call was spot on.
It was not a penalty in my opinion. Had it been the other way round I would have been livid if it had been awarded against us. Looking at replays, I still believe it was not a penalty. McLean had a very good game. Credit where credit is due,
I’ve seen worse performances to be honest…
The players didn’t make it hard for him on the day though !
The sign of things to come?
I spotted everyone of the refereeing “mistakes” that you mentioned, they were clear and obvious to the trained eye. VAR and he must have had a wee conversation agreeing to shake hands on them matters, a sticky situation.
If he’d have given it VAR wouldn’t have overturned it…….
HH