Midtjylland vs Celtic ref watch: Three decisions that Nenad Minakovic got wrong
Celtic were beaten 3-1 by Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday evening as their good recent form came to an abrupt end in Denmark.
The hosts went in front just after the half-hour mark as Martin Erlic headed home from a Mikel Gorgoza cross, and the winger got on the scoresheet just a minute later to double their lead.
Franculino made it 3-0 to Midtjylland before the break, and Celtic were unable to stage a comeback despite Reo Hatate‘s late penalty as Martin O’Neill suffered the first loss of his interim spell in charge.
Football Insider have looked at three decisions that referee Nenad Minakovic did not get right on a night to forget for those in green and white.
Anthony Ralston should have been booked
Celtic were on the back foot throughout the first-half, and Anthony Ralston was culpable for both of Midtjylland’s first two goals as they each originated from down his flank.
Prior to that, the Hoops right-back was lucky to not receive an early booking as he scythed down Gorgoza while he aimed to mount an attack on the left-wing in the 11th minute.
Referee Minakovic blew for a foul but did not book Ralston, and even failed to show him a card later on in the game as he committed another foul that definitely should have seen him receive a yellow.
Liam Scales did not deserve a yellow card
On the flip side to Ralston, Celtic centre-back Liam Scales did not deserve a yellow card for a foul he committed just two minutes after his teammate’s aforementioned incident.
There was certainly a sense of Minakovic making up for his failure to book Ralston as he showed Scales a card in the 13th minute for supposedly elbowing Gue-Sung Cho in the head.
Replays showed that the Ireland international was seriously unlucky as he actually won the ball with his head, and he did catch Cho, but certainly didn’t mean to and was very unlucky to go into the book.
Celtic’s late penalty was contentious as Callum Osmand went down easily
Celtic were given a shred of hope as substitute Callum Osmand won a penalty in the 78th minute after Erlic stuck his leg out and seemingly tripped the young striker.
While there was some contact, it was not enough for Minakovic to point to the spot, with Osmand, who joined Celtic in the summer from Fulham, running into the defender rather than him tripping him up.
The Serbian official still gave it, and VAR checked it but were always unlikely to turn it over once it was given, although they would likely have not made him go to the monitor if it was not initially given.