Usually, when a referee is sent to the pitch-side monitor, Celtic supporters expect the decision to go against their team — whether it’s for a red card or a penalty.
In most cases, when VAR asks a referee to review an incident, the original call flagged by the technology is upheld. However, in Celtic’s clash with Dundee, things played out differently.
Referee Matthew MacDermid was asked to review a possible handball by a Dundee defender following a shot from Reo Hatate, and instead of confirming the penalty, he overturned it after watching the footage.
This left fans wondering: why didn’t VAR simply inform MacDermid that his initial decision to award the penalty was incorrect? Why was he sent to the monitor at all?
Former referee Bobby Madden has since explained why VAR couldn’t directly overturn Celtic’s penalty decision against Dundee.
He wrote on Instagram:
“Heart-in-mouth moment for Dundee. Credit to VAR — that’s exactly what it’s there for. The defender took a risk by raising his hands, but it’s not a penalty. Easy to see why it was given live, but no harm done.”
Madden also suggested that Celtic’s main issue wasn’t the penalty itself, but their lacklustre performance. Despite having enough quality players on the pitch, they struggled to break down Dundee.
He added that Brendan Rodgers needs to find a way to spark improvement quickly — not just ahead of the weekend’s match against Hearts, but also for Thursday’s Europa League tie. Otherwise, the scrutiny currently aimed at the Celtic board could soon shift toward the manager himself.
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