‘He should’ve been sent off’ – Keith Hackett blasts Celtic vs Dundee incident
Celtic beat Dundee 1-0 on Wednesday night in the final game of Martin O’Neill’s interim tenure.
The 73-year-old stpped in to lead the team after Brendan Rodgers’ departure, and has since won all five of his Premiership games to take the Bhoys back level with Hearts at the top of the table.
Daizen Maeda has been excellent for Celtic so far this season, and he headed home his fifth league goal of the campaign in the 11th minute to secure the points for his team.
Nevertheless, the hosts faced a late barrage from a spirited Dundee side, but they hung on to their clean sheet to tee up a mouth-watering clash with Hearts in Wilfried Nancy’s first game in charge on Sunday.
Keith Hackett: ‘Jon McCracken fortunate to avoid red card’
Roe Hatate caught the eye for Celtic in the middle of the park, as his range of passing opened up several opportunities for the hosts to extend their lead and put the game to bed.
O’Neill’s men withstood plenty of pressure in the closing minutes, but that could easily have been avoided had referee Duncan Nicolson viewed a key situation slightly differently.
Dundee goalkeeper Jon McCracken stepped across Maeda outside his box in the 71st minute, and then handled the ball after falling to the ground.
Nicolson awarded the free-kick to McCracken for the initial challenge, but ex-FIFA referee Keith Hackett believes that the initial foul should have been given in the opposite direction, and added that the Dundee stopper was lucky not to be shown a red card for the handball.
“The goalkeeper has committed a foul on his opponent outside the penalty area,” the ex-PGMOL chief exclusively told Football Insider.
“If the referee hadn’t have given a free-kick, then there was a probability that the Celtic player would have gained possession of the ball and with it, the opportunity to shoot into an open goal.
“The goalkeeper is very fortunate to not have received a red card for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.”
Wilfried Nancy under immediate pressure at Celtic
Celtic’s appointment of Nancy was delayed due to work permit issues last weekend, and in an ideal world, they would have got him through the door in time for the recent clashes with Hibernian and Dundee.
O’Neill has done a superb job in the meantime, but it now leaves Nancy with a baptism of fire, and he will under immediate pressure to get a strong result against Hearts this weekend.
The tabletopping clash is then followed up by a difficult Europa League tie against Roma, who recently dismantled Rangers at Ibrox and are one of the favourites to win the entire competition.
The mood at Parkhead has been lifted by O’Neill’s tenure, but if Nancy is unable to come in and hit the ground running, then the sour atmosphere could soon return.