Sutton Defends 'Extraordinary' Celtic Penalty as Lineker Brands It Worst VAR Decision

The fallout from Celtic's dramatic 3-2 comeback win against Motherwell on Wednesday night continues to rage, with the VAR-awarded penalty that secured victory proving every bit as divisive as you'd expect.

Kelechi Iheanacho converted from the spot deep into stoppage time to complete Celtic's turnaround, but the decision to award it has left the Scottish football establishment at war with itself. The controversy centres on Sam Nicholson, adjudged to have committed handball when colliding with Celtic's Auston Trusty—despite the fact he'd clearly sent the ball 20 yards downfield with his head.

The win keeps Celtic's Scottish Premiership title hopes alive heading into the final week. Had they drawn, they would have needed to overturn a three-goal deficit against leaders Hearts in their season finale. Now, a simple victory will do the job.

Hearts, meanwhile, brushed aside Falkirk 3-0 to maintain their position atop the table.

The Defence

Chris Sutton has waded into the debate to defend the decision, taking to social media to push back against what he views as overwrought criticism. "Now the dust has settled, the reaction from many high profile people is way over the top," he wrote. "John Beaton was advised to go to the monitor and saw that the ball hit the arm in an unnatural position. Bottom line is people would hate to see Celtic win the title again and that is all."

When pressed further, Sutton argued this is precisely what VAR exists to do—examine contentious moments in minute detail.

Gary Lineker, never one to bite his tongue where VAR is concerned, offered a rather different assessment. "This might be the worst VAR decision I've seen (and there's a lot of competition)," the former England striker declared on social media. "Extraordinary given the significance."

The Managers Weigh In

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill struck a diplomatic note afterwards, though he acknowledged his players had flagged a handball concern. "The lads have a little monitor. It's very small. I can't really see it. I need another pair of glasses to see it. The lads thought it was a handball, an elbow as well too," he said.

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou, watching European qualification hopes evaporate in the cruellest fashion, was far less restrained. "I think it's one of the worst decisions I've seen in my career, taking everything into consideration," he fumed. "I thought I'd seen it all this season, but I hadn't."

Askou went on to warn of reputational damage to Scottish football. "If we keep making calls that we have done too many times, we will end up being ridiculed as a football country and I don't think we deserve that because in so many ways this country is taking steps in the right direction, especially this season. It's a shame."

He was equally scathing about the decision to call Beaton to the monitor in the first place. "Even watching it from a distance I was shocked he even got called to the monitor because you can see he connects with his head. The reason you could find a picture where it hits his finger, it's because he connects with Trusty and his arm gets pushed in the direction where he's heading the ball. Even if he finds a connection with the arm, it's not a penalty."