Celtic’s 2-1 defeat to Hibernian will be talked about for refereeing decisions as much as the result. Two moments after the break changed the feel inside Celtic Park and left the home support raging with Liam Scales particularly frustrated.
Auston Trusty was sent off after a clash with Jamie McGrath before a corner. There was contact. His arm lifted and caught the Hibs player. It looked soft at first glance. Referee Matthew MacDermid was told to check the screen and then showed red instead of yellow. With ten men, Celtic were suddenly on the back foot.
The bigger shock came moments later. From a Celtic corner, Liam Scales was clearly hauled back by Jack Iredale. His shirt was pulled tight and he was dragged away from the drop zone as the ball fell into the six-yard area. Scales would have been attacking the same space. Instead, he was on the deck.
The game carried on. Then VAR Grant Irvine stepped in. The stadium screen read: “Incident outside the Penalty Area.”
Blatant foul and shirt pull on Liam Scales, where he would’ve ended up in the area where the Hibs player headers it.
It is as clear a penalty as you will ever see. pic.twitter.com/HqqJVnVWo1
— Celtic Thoughts (@celtic_thoughts) February 22, 2026
That simply did not fit with what had just happened. The pull began and carried on inside the box. It was not shoulder to shoulder. It was a clear tug that stopped Scales challenging for the ball.
Celtic were pushing for a winner at that point. A penalty changes the picture. Even with ten men, a goal swings momentum and lifts the crowd.
Instead, Hibs saw it out and then grabbed a late goal.
Trusty’s red card made things harder. No question. But the failure to give a penalty for the foul on Scales will linger. When games are tight, calls like that matter. Celtic walked off feeling they had been denied a fair shot.
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Celtic have now conceded TEN goals more than Motherwell playing this formation….
The only chance we have of now salvaging anything now is to change to a 4-4-2 playing with two strikers and overlapping wide midfield players whilst stopping the two wingers pathetic attempts at defending…
HH
The season is over for Celtic, no question. Apart from a few exceptions, this Celtic squad simply does not have the quality to play for such a great club. Add to that the dismal performances of Maeda and Hatate this season, both of whom want to leave, and a couple of loan strikers who don’t score goals, and it looks ominous. Schmeichel is done, Forest is done, McGregor is almost done and Scales and Trusty are no more than League one level defenders. Is it any wonder the team are a distant shadow of what it was under Postecoglu.
The sooner this season is over, the better. I feel for Martin O’Neill, he’s way too old to be undergoing the stress that shower of veretrans and/or amateurs are visiting upon him in absolutely every game. Aroujo looks a decent player, as do one or two others, but not enough to make this team anywhere near champions. I dread to think what will happen to them in the return match with Stuttgart.
Ultimately, the Board is entirely to blame for this mess because they are hangers-on who haven’t a clue how to run a football club. Dermot Desmond has employed a band of greedy yes men to do his bidding. They couldn’t run a nursery school, let alone a world-class football club. The entire Board needs to go and Desmond needs to sell on his shares to someone who actually loves the club for more than the profit he can make from it.