Celtic’s disallowed second goal in Wednesday evening’s win over St Johnstone was a controversial talking point at full-time.
The Hoops thought they had found the back of the net for a second time when Haissem Hassan wheeled away following a decent finish from a Sebastian Tounekti delivery. The Tunisian international chipped a cross into the box which was met by Kasper Hogh who nodded the ball into Hassan’s path.
And as the winger finished the move off, the whistle blew with the linesman’s flag having gone up with the ball ruled to have gone out of play from the cross in the first instance.
It was a difficult call to make for the assistant referee and one that had Sky Sports’ pundits debating whether or not it had crossed over into being a goal kick. And while the conversation may linger, James McFadden gave a well thought-out explanation as to why the lino’s decision would never have been overturned by VAR.
🗣️ “I think it’s in play”
🗣️ “You need definitive proof to tell the assistant he’s wrong; you don’t have that here”Kris Boyd thinks Haissem Hassan’s disallowed goal should’ve stood, while James McFadden explains why VAR couldn’t intervene ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ZOctf1GDPI
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 9, 2026
“There’s no way of telling and you have to go with the on-field decision,” Faddy said. “When the ball is either in, out or over the line, you need definitive proof to tell the assistant he’s wrong. We don’t have it here.
“We can say we think the ball stays in all we like but it doesn’t matter. The assistant referee is along the line with the cross, he’s determined it is out.
“If you had the line right across the line and could see the ball the whole way, (but) you lose the sight of the ball. There’s no way you can say the assistant is wrong. We can say we think he’s wrong but there’s no way we can say that he is.
“Therefore, there’s not a chance of that being overturned.”
McFadden went on: “Unfortunately for Tounekti and Hassan the assistant referee deemed it to be out of play and there’s no way of telling whether it was in or out.”
Kris Boyd also weighed in on the controversy and, perhaps surprisingly, felt the wrong call had gone against Celtic and that the goal should have stood.
He added: “I think it’s in play. But James has explained the rules and you’ve got to go with that as well.”
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