Lee Johnson has branded the decision to send off Elie Youan as 'terrible' as he delivered his opinion on BOTH penalties at Parkhead.
The Hibs boss was full of praise for the performance from his troops as they played close to 70 minutes with ten men against Ange Postecoglou's side following their first half red card. Josh Campbell then fired the visitors ahead to take a lead into the break but the champions hit back with goals from Jota, Oh and Sead Haksabanovic to restore their nine point lead over Rangers at the top of the Premiership.
For the Hibees, it leaves them fifth with Aberdeen taking over in fourth by one point while the gap to Hearts in third sits at five with four games to be played before the league split. There is still some work to do to make sure the capital club are in the top half before the hunt for European football becomes the main focus.
READ MORE: Hearts and Hibs pre-split fixtures in full as battle for third spot and Europe heats up
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Reacting post-match, Johnson told Hibs' official website: “Firstly, it was a fantastic performance. We themed the week to make sure we came here and defended resolutely and stoutly, which we did from the first minute.
“We showed great character and the boys put their bodies on the line. Marsh had to make a couple of saves, but we restricted a top-quality side like Celtic to very few clear-cut chances and we played as well.
“It was a terrible decision to send Élie off in my opinion having played and been in that situation before. He’s been moved by a physical, strong player after pinning him and doing really well, and potentially it was even a foul on Elie. By the time Elie makes contact with the ball, and with Carter-Vickers, Carter Vickers’ head – a 6ft 3 player – is at about 5ft. It’s definitely not dangerous play and does not warrant a booking.
“It was an uphill battle after that, but we definitely deserved something. We still had box entries, defended well, and tried to play. I think we can build on and start to create spirit after a performance like that.”
He continued: “I don’t think either were penalties if I’m honest with you. Again, it comes down to improving this process and the VAR process; referees making decisions, grey areas between overturning something and not.
“If we’re going to give penalties for contact like that, then there will be a lot of penalties in the Scottish league. We’ve got to get some consistency with that, then we can coach our players adjusting to that.”
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