Daizen Maeda accusation made amid Celtic controversy in win vs Livingston
Celtic narrowed the gap on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts with a 4-2 thriller win over Livingston on Saturday.
Hearts’ defeat in the Edinburgh derby gave the Hoops the perfect chance to close in on the summit, something Wilfried Nancy’s side took with open arms.
Despite conceding two early goals, the visitors ended up coming away with a comfortable three points, with Nancy’s reign now fully up and running at the Old Firm side.
While plenty of players underperformed against Livingston, in the end, Celtic did enough to get the victory.
However, there was still controversy throughout the match, particularly in the way the visitors won the penalty for the fourth goal.
Leanne Crichton: It appeared that Daizen Maeda nudged Daniel Finlayson for Celtic penalty
With Celtic looking to finish off the match, they had a good opportunity to do so late in the first half.
The ball appeared to strike the arm of Daniel Finlayson after a Hoops corner, with referee Matthew MacDermid eventually giving a penalty for the incident after a VAR review.
As a result, Arne Engels dispatched the spot-kick to put the game out of sight. However, Leanne Crichton was quick to highlight how the awarding of a spot-kick could be seen as controversial.
Engels rounding off a breathless first half by sending Prior the wrong way! ⚽️⁰#LIVCEL | #CelticFC🍀
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 27, 2025
pic.twitter.com/Lew947coKe
Speaking on BBC Sportscene on 28 December, the current Rangers Women manager stated that she felt there was a slight nudge from Daizen Maeda that led to the penalty.
She said: “This is the moment that led to the penalty, and you feel for Finlayson because I felt at the time that there was a slight nudge from Maeda from behind.
“But you need to credit the officials in the sense that they took a fair amount of time over this decision.
“They’ve looked at it, they’ve asked the referee to come to the screen to look at it, and ultimately, he has the final say.
Job done ☑️#LIVCEL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/1Z1SoxC5bA
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 27, 2025
“Regardless of what you feel about certain decisions in games and moments, ultimately, all you want to know is that the referee is the person who makes the decision on the pitch, and he does that.”
What did Wilfried Nancy say after Celtic’s win over Livingston?
For Nancy, the result would have been a relief.
Celtic were widely expected to win due to Livingston’s poor form, and after a crazy opening 10 minutes, they did enough to secure three points.
After Nancy was given two games to save his job at Celtic, he has now come away with two wins and sits just three points behind Hearts with a game in hand.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game on 27 December, he said: “Really happy with the spirit because we came from behind twice and this is something I like to see.
“I think this is the next step, to be able to control this kind of game better but I liked the attitude, the competitive spirit, against a difficult team to play. I’m really pleased with my players.”