Confusion has reigned over an alleged "dirty tactic" from Hibs at Celtic Park at the weekend, with Lee Johnson booked after a second ball appeared on the pitch.
Celtic battled back from behind to overcome the 10-man Hibees on an afternoon fraught with controversy in Glasgow's east end. Three penalties were awarded by whistler Steven McLean, albeit with one overturned by VAR, and amid all the chaos it appears one contentious moment has flown under the radar. It came in the first half after Josh Campbell had given Hibs the lead from the penalty spot, as a second ball was thrown on to the pitch just as Alistair Johnston went to take a free-kick inside the Hibs half.
The bizarre moment was shown on the Sportscene highlights with the commentator noting it came from the Hibs technical area. Straight after it appeared, referee McLean went over to book Johnson who looked in disbelief when the yellow card was shown. He even pointed to the dugout, as if to protest his innocence.
It was a blink and you'll miss it incident though and the Clyde 1 Superscoreboard panel were caught on the back foot when fuming Celtic fan Mark called up to discuss it. None of host Gordon Duncan or pundits Kenny Miller or Roger Hannah saw it at the time and doubts were cast over whether it happened at all.
It did, however. And the highlights show there was some substance to the moment and former Rangers and Celtic striker Miller agreed it was a "dirty tactic" of which he doesn't approve. He said: "If a coach or an assistant has kicked the ball onto the pitch, it's a dirty tactic for me. In that particular scenario, it was a real dirty tactic.
"If the ball is out and you're throwing the ball on while the ball is dead (then it's OK). But in-play, I don't know exactly what happened, but if it was an in-game thing and the ball was thrown on to stop a situation for Celtic to benefit then I don't like it at all."
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