Anthony Ralston insists Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup triumph over Rangers remains a source of joy for the squad, despite the ongoing fallout over the non-awarded penalty that has dominated headlines since the dramatic 5-4 shootout win at Hampden.
The controversy erupted after Scottish FA Head of Referees Willie Collum acknowledged that Rangers were denied a clear penalty in extra time.
With the score tied at 3-3, referee John Beaton awarded a free-kick just outside the box for Liam Scales’ foul on Vaclav Cerny. However, replays later showed the foul occurred inside the area. VAR official Alan Muir failed to advise Beaton to review the incident, a decision Collum labelled as unacceptable.
Despite the uproar, Ralston made it clear that the controversy hasn’t dampened Celtic’s celebrations or their sense of achievement.
Speaking about the incident, the Celtic right-back said: [RecordSport]
“I don’t feel it has put any sort of dampener on our success. We’re all buzzing, we’re all extremely happy with the outcome of the game. We got our hands on the trophy, and that’s all we really care about to be honest, everything else is not something that we’re going to overly pay attention to. It’s not obviously our place to do that.
“From my point of view, I didn’t really look too much into it after the game. There was an on-field decision made at the time, which isn’t down to us to make as players. There wasn’t much said about it until after the game, when ultimately we’d won. So it’s part and parcel of football. And, I can speak on behalf of the other lads, we don’t take much to do with it, to be honest, let the officials do that side of it. And the important thing for us is we had a job to do, which was win the trophy, which we’re all delighted that we’ve managed to do.”
The mistake was made, and it was a bad mistake, but it happens.
There isn’t this media outroar and fallout when Rangers get a dodgy penalty or decision go for them, and when something goes against Celtic that shouldn’t, it’s forgotten about after a day.
What we’re seeing unfold is making it sweeter for us Celtic fans.
With the League Cup secured, Celtic turn their attention back to the Scottish Premiership and their quest for more silverware. The controversy will undoubtedly continue to fuel debates among fans and pundits, but for Ralston and his teammates, the focus remains crystal clear: winning matches and collecting trophies.
