James McFadden shuts down Kris Boyd’s Celtic penalty claim against Livingston

Celtic and Livingston served up a breathless, action-packed first half in Saturday’s Premiership clash, with goals flying in during a chaotic opening spell. The match quickly became another snapshot of Wilfried Nancy’s early tenure, with controversy never far away — particularly surrounding a penalty awarded to Celtic.

After four goals were shared in a wild ten-minute period, Benjamin Nygren restored Celtic’s lead on the half-hour mark before Arne Engels converted from the spot eight minutes later. The decision to award that penalty became a major talking point, sparking a heated disagreement between Kris Boyd and James McFadden in the Sky Sports studio.

Unsurprisingly, Boyd felt Celtic should not have been given the spot-kick, though his argument appeared confused. The former striker claimed Livingston defender Daniel Finlayson was fouled by Daizen Maeda in the build-up, insisting a push caused Finlayson to handle the ball following a corner.

Boyd argued that Maeda shoved his opponent from behind, forcing Finlayson’s arm into an unnatural position and leading to the handball offence. However, McFadden strongly disagreed, stating there was not enough contact to justify a foul and pointing out that Finlayson’s arm was already extended.

The debate took an awkward turn when Boyd suggested Finlayson’s arm had been outstretched even before Maeda made contact — a point McFadden immediately seized upon to undermine his colleague’s argument.

McFadden insisted the decision was correct, explaining that minor contact is inevitable in the box and that it did not excuse the defender’s arm position. He stressed that whether the handball was deliberate or not was irrelevant, as the arm was clearly outside the body.

Boyd continued to argue that referees had been consistent with handball decisions but maintained there was a push beforehand that influenced the outcome. McFadden, however, remained firm, dismissing the contact as nothing more than a nudge and concluding that Livingston had little grounds for complaint.

In the end, McFadden’s clear reasoning left Boyd struggling to justify his stance, making the penalty debate one-sided in the Sky studio.