Dermot Gallagher weighs in on VAR debate over Daizen Maeda’s disallowed Celtic goal

VAR continues to cause controversy this season for Celtic after Daizen Maeda’s goal against St Johnstone was chalked off by the officials.

The refereeing technology intervened when an apparent foul was spotted by Alan Muir on VAR which Don Roberston then decided that Auston Trusty had committed a foul on St Johnstone’s Graeme Carey Carey.

67 Hail Hail has already discussed this morning how former SFA referee, Des Roache, believed that the goal should have stood and now, it’s the turn of former FIFA referee, Dermot Gallagher.

Celtic goal ‘correctly disallowed’

It looks like Daizen Maeda should have had a double against St Johnstone after Roache’s view on the decision to chalk off the Japanese winger’s goal.

And it seems that the view of Gallagher, who reviewed the decision on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch this morning, is completely different.

Gallagher said, “I think it’s a brilliant spot by the VAR because when I saw this clip, I thought, ‘Why is he on the floor?’

“I didn’t know what happened. You see, he just catches him on the way through, but it’s a foul, the goal is disallowed correctly, but whether it’s a red card, I’m not sure.”

Celtic get on with winning despite VAR controversy

This verdict by Gallagher is likely to surprise the Celtic support but the crumb of comfort Brendan Rodgers can take about the latest VAR controversy is that the decision didn’t have a material impact on the overall result at McDiarmid Park.

Celtic were in cruise control as they brushed the struggling Perth side aside to maintain their position at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

However, as last season proved against Hearts, a wrong decision can affect the outcome of a game and the Celtic fans will not want to see a repeat of that Tynecastle controversy that could have been costly for their team last season.

It will be interesting to hear Willie Collum’s view on this when the next instalment of the SFA’s VAR review comes out later this month