One of the more contentious moments of Celtic’s 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie came in the second half when Dons forward Duk appeared to go to ground in the penalty area under minimal, if any, contact.
With the match still goalless at the time, it was a flashpoint that could have had major ramifications, but it seems to have escaped significant scrutiny in the post-match analysis.
The incident occurred as Duk collected the ball on the edge of the box, displaying quick feet to get past Greg Taylor and drive into the area. With Auston Trusty and Kasper Schmeichel closing in, the forward went to ground, seemingly anticipating contact rather than being fouled.
Referee Don Robertson waved play on, much to the frustration of the home fans but it was the right decision, but the lack of post-match focus on the incident raises eyebrows.
Why the Silence?
Had this been a Celtic player, there’s little doubt the moment would have been dissected at length, with pundits quick to discuss intent and whether the player tried to deceive the referee.
The lack of attention given to Duk’s fall speaks volumes about the differing standards applied when Celtic are involved in controversial moments.
When players from other teams go down easily, these incidents are often brushed aside. Yet, similar actions from a Celtic player would likely dominate the headlines and provoke widespread outrage.
Peter Grant on Celtic TV accused the player of diving earlier in the game to get Alex Valle a yellow card and he was none too impressed with the Aberdeen player’s attempt to win a spot kick.
No Case for a Penalty
It’s clear there was no real case for a penalty. While Duk did well to manoeuvre into a dangerous position, replays suggest no contact was made by either Taylor, Trusty, or Schmeichel. Instead, the forward seemed to be looking for a decision that was never coming.
As Celtic fans celebrate a hard-earned win, questions remain over why moments like Duk’s tumble are swept aside.
Moments like Duks dive will always go unchallenged by the media and football pundits.
It’s like players fall to ground with either minimal contact, or just fall to the ground and win free kicks, this happens in every celtic game.
But the complete opposite happens when it’s a celtic player, if there looks like minimal contact, or a celtic player who looks like they’re looking for a foul, whether it’s in or outside the box, then these incidents are scrutinised from every angle, from everyone in the media or pundits on rangers tv (sportscene), these incidents are talked about for days or even weeks, they then claim celtic players are looked on favourably by match officials.
Where in fact it’s the complete opposite that happens, last night Valle was booked for a supposed foul on Duk, on closer inspection it was the other way round, Valle was running in front of Duk when the Aberdeen player went down, Don Robertson was looking to book Valle after speaking to the celtic player moments earlier.
Yet Robertson let Aberdeens midfielder Nilsen who had committed at least 4 or 5 fouls before Robertson spoke to him, yet he was allowed to make even more fouls before finally receiving his yellow card.
This shows the clear difference in how referees view incidents involving celtic players and the teams they face every week.
Going back to the game at celtic park, the exact same player Nilsen had committed countless fouls and yet he had escaped punishment, yet when celtics captain had committed what the ref deemed as a foul, yet watching it back again it was never a foul, but he was immediately showing a yellow card, Nilsen went on to commit further fouls before finally being booked.
Players are allowed to commit countless fouls and even after being spoken to by the ref, are allowed to commit 2, 3 or even 4 more fouls before being shown a yellow card, but going back to last night’s game Valle was booked mins after being spoken to by Robertson, he had a clear and inunterupted view of what he deemed a foul, how he thought Valle had fouled Duk when Valle was running in front of Duk, it was Duk who caught Valle from behind yet it was Valle who got the booking.
Duk not for the first time threw himself to the ground without being touched, in the incident in the box when Duk went flying, Robertson saw what happened and gestured to Duk to pick himself up, meaning he saw him dive but failed to book the Aberdeen player.
This happens all the time when celtic player, if any celtic player did that and wasn’t booked, then there would be hell to pay for them not being booked.
It would be continually disected at every opportunity, with claims that celtic players are allowed to do this all the time, but that could not be further from the truth, and Valles booking by Robertson who couldn’t wait to show him the yellow card, even though Robertson had a clear view of what happened, and it was never a booking.
Going back to celtics disallowed goal from Bernardos corner kick, Maeda was standing in front of the Aberdeen keeper, this happens at every corner and not just celtics corners, the ball was whipped in and just because the keeper couldn’t reach the ball Robertson disallowed the goal, yet moments later the same thing happened, this time it was a different celtic player standing in front of the keeper, again the keeper couldn’t come for tge ball, but because it didn’t end up in the back of the net, Robertson didn’t give a foul for the exact same incident, why is it a foul the first time and not moments later from the exact same situation, he only gave the foul because celtic scored from the corner, another case of double standards.
I’d bet you anything that if that had happened at the other end of the pitch, if it was Aberdeen that scored from the corner, and an Aberdeen player was directly in front of Schmeichel, the goal would’ve stood, there would be no chance in hell of it being disallowed.
Just another example of the double standards that happen throughout the game and throughout the pitch.
The fact he booked Valle moments after talking to him, he had only committed maybe one other foul before being spoken to, but Nilsen has committed at least 4 or 5 fouls before Robertson speaks to him, but Nilsen is allowed 3 or 4 more deliberate fouls before eventually getting booked.