Eagle-eyed VAR officials wasted no time ruling out three Kyogo Furuhashi goals during Celtic’s narrow 1-0 Champions League victory over Switzerland’s Young Boys at Parkhead last night.
Their attention to detail extended to flagging Daizen Maeda’s rash behavior in the 90th minute.
The Hoops winger became entangled with a defender, prompting Norwegian referee Rohit Saggi to consult the touchline monitor. This resulted in Maeda’s yellow card being upgraded to a straight red.
The Japanese forward’s lapse in discipline, coming with just five minutes of stoppage time remaining, means he will miss the crucial final qualifier against Aston Villa in the Midlands next Wednesday.
The VAR team’s thoroughness throughout the match in Glasgow’s east end made one oversight particularly baffling. Despite their efficiency, they failed to order a retake of Arne Engels’ 39th-minute penalty, which the Belgian mishit.
Engels, who had maintained a perfect record of six penalties converted from six attempts, was visibly stunned as Celtic goalkeeper Marvin Keller dived to his left to make a straightforward save.
Yet, replays showed two Swiss players clearly encroaching into the penalty area before Engels struck the ball.
According to the rules, this intrusion should have mandated a retake of the penalty. However, in what appeared to be the sole lapse of the evening, the VAR team overlooked this infringement.
In the end, the missed penalty didn’t alter the outcome. Loris Benito inadvertently deflected the winner into his own net in the 86th minute, sealing Brendan Rodgers’ side’s progress to the play-offs of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.