Hearts manager shares angry thoughts after seeing what he calls a ‘disgusting’ Celtic penalty call
Hearts boss Derek McInnes was really upset when talking about a controversial VAR decision that let Celtic snatch a late penalty winner at 99 minutes against Motherwell. This means the race for the Scottish title is now wide open.
On Wednesday (May 13), both Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts and second-placed Celtic played matches. Hearts beat Falkirk 3–0 with goals from Frankie Kent, Cammy Devlin, and Blair Spittal. Meanwhile, Celtic had a tough game at Motherwell, falling behind after 17 minutes. Daizen Maeda scored to even things up before halftime. Then Benjamin Nygren put Celtic ahead 2–1 in the 58th minute. However, Motherwell thought they’d earned a point when Liam Gordon scored in the 85th minute.
If the game had ended in a draw, Hearts would be in a great position before the big title showdown at Parkhead on Saturday. If Celtic had dropped points this week, Hearts could have lost by two goals in the final game and still won their first Scottish top-flight title since 1960.
But then a controversial VAR call gave Celtic a 3–2 win. Kelechi Iheanacho scored the winning penalty after video referee Andrew Dallas told the main referee John Beaton to check the pitchside monitor. The penalty was given against Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson for handball, although some think the ball hit his head instead.
On X, former Premier League and England star Gary Lineker tweeted, “This might be the worst VAR decision I’ve seen (and there’s a lot of competition). Extraordinary given the significance.”
McInnes wasn’t happy in his post-match interviews, saying his team feels like it’s “up against everybody.” He told Sky Sports, “I think it’s disgusting. I don’t think it’s a penalty kick. But we’re up against it, we’re up against everybody, and we’ll be ready for Saturday. There were two other penalty appeals for us against Motherwell that weren’t given. If I’m Motherwell, I’d be really disappointed seeing it again. It’s so poor that they were given that penalty. Celtic have been very lucky with that, and we have to know it’s against all odds. We just need to focus and get ready for the game on Saturday.”