NEIL LENNON believes that a good night for Celtic could have been a great one had the Video Assistant Referee system been in operation in their Europa League draw against Stade Rennais in Rennes.
A Ryan Christie penalty cancelled out a M’Baye Niang spot-kick for the hosts, but Lennon was angry that his side weren’t awarded another penalty for a foul by Joris Gnagnon on Christie prior to the one they were given.
He was also upset by referee Jose Maria Sanchez’s decision to order of substitute Vakoun Issouf Bayo in stoppage time for a second bookable offence after a clash with home goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, with the Celtic manager accusing the keeper of feigning contact with his face.
It left Lennon coming away from a positive night for his side with a tinge of regret that VAR wasn't available in this competition, despite being used in the Champions League.
“I was aware of that before the game,” Lennon said. “We are playing under the UEFA banner. I’m surprised we don’t have it in this competition. If we had had it, we would have had another penalty.
“I'm not happy about the sending off and we should have had a clear penalty for the foul on Ryan Christie. However, I have to be satisfied to come away from home and play very strongly against a good side speaks volumes for the character and quality of the team.”
The ordering off of Bayo in particular bemused Lennon, with the Spanish official initially signalling that there had been no contact between the players.
"It looks to me like the referee was waving play on,” he said. “I don’t know if he looked back at the goalkeeper as he was holding his head. There was no contact with his face at all. If anything, it was minimal across his midriff.
“The referee changed his mind. Bayo can feel very hard done by by that decision.
“We pride ourselves on our team discipline. Yes, we lost a player to a red card, but we feel harshly done by.”
Despite the grumbles around the officiating, Lennon was proud of the performance that his players put in as they made the team currently sitting in second place in Ligue 1 look distinctly second-best for large portions of the night.
“The players acquitted themselves brilliantly in testing circumstances with the volume of crowd going up and their bench getting a little bit vociferous,” he said.
“We kept our composure very well. It’s great start to the group.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here