Amazed Michael Stewart reckons it was "ludicrous" that Jayden Richardson was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box against Rangers.
Rangers beat Aberdeen without too much fuss despite conceding early on to Connor Barron as Antonio Colak, John Lundstram, James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos all struck to temporarily cut Celtic 's lead at the top to a single point. But the Dons were left protesting furiously when, at 3-1, Richardson was adjudged to have handled following a Tavernier corner and ref Steven McLean pointed to the spot.
The defender was in a seemingly innocuous position when the ball bounced up and struck his hand but he was adamant there was nothing he could do to avoid it. And Stewart agreed on BBC Sportscene as he blasted: "I just think handball's ludicrous to be perfectly honest. That to me is never a handball. It deflects up off of Richardson...are the officials trying to tell us that he has deliberately handballed that? That would be one of the most ludicrous things on planet earth.
"There's nobody round him, it bounces off his leg. 'I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll just punch the ball away.' It's an accidental handball, his arm has moved after it's deflected off his leg. It's not deliberate, it's not a penalty."
Stewart also reckoned there was no way Celtic should have been given a penalty in their 3-0 win over Livingston on Sunday. Ange Postecoglou's team picked up a comfortable win on the road to re-establish their four-point lead and while VAR was the talk of the town, one of the game's big talking points did not require the technology for a bit of controversy. With the visitors up 2-0, whistler Willie Collum pointed to the spot
When asked by Jonathan Sutherland if it was going to be a long debate over the award, he said: "It's quite simple. You just say it's not a penalty then you leave it there.
"The law has been butchered over a number of years but what it says is that the player is deemed to have made their body unnaturally bigger if it is not the consequence of the body movement.
"Now, to me, when the body moves, the arm moves. His arm is right up next to his chest, tucked in. Where should he put his arm?"
"But it's a consequence of him moving. It is extremely harsh to be giving that as a penalty.
"We saw one at Ibrox yesterday where with Jayden Richardson where the ball bounced up and collided with his arm. I just think it's so incredibly harsh to be punishing defenders for things that are accidental and just a consequence of moving. People don't stand still with their arms by their sides when they play football."
And fellow pundit Kenny Miller couldn't help but agree. "Unfortunately I agree with Michael," he laughed. "I don't think it's a penalty. I don't think his elbow could be any tighter to his body. Yes, his arm's out a little bit but it's like Mikey says, it's pretty natural with how he's moving."
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