Dermot Gallagher offered his expert analysis on the chaotic events at Celtic Park on Saturday, concluding that the officials were as sharp as the teams on the pitch.
The highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash delivered on its promise, with Celtic dominating early on only for Aberdeen to fight back and almost snatch a late winner.
However, it was the controversial refereeing decisions that took centre stage, with key moments involving Duk sparking fierce debate.
The drama began with Duk’s disallowed goal, setting the tone for a frantic finish. Celtic then had what looked like a late winner ruled out before a VAR review confirmed that Duk hadn’t used his hand to block Alistair Johnston’s effort.
Johnston thought he had redeemed himself after earlier colliding with Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov, an incident that allowed Adam Idah to score before the goal was rightly chalked off for a clear foul.
Duk’s celebrations after his late intervention were validated by VAR, leaving Celtic frustrated.
Here’s Gallagher’s verdict on the three big calls:
Duk’s Disallowed Goal
Gallagher: “This is where VAR works well because without doubt, when I saw this, I thought it was a goal. Then you see it clearly comes off his arm into the net directly. That’s key, because it’s not deliberate, but it goes directly into the net off his arm.”
Celtic’s Disallowed Goal
Gallagher: “It’s the right decision. Alistair Johnston backs into the goalkeeper. If you watch the full-back as Idah goes to head the ball, he backs into the goalkeeper and knocks him, so it’s the correct decision.”
Duk’s Last-Gasp Block
Gallagher: “It hits him in the chest. It hits him in the midriff. It’s a great block and you can see why he’s celebrating. I think this was the last minute. He throws himself at it but he doesn’t handle it. It’s checked by the VAR and cleared.”
Gallagher’s assessment will offer some reassurance to officials after a tense encounter, though the decisions left both teams feeling they had been denied victory in a pulsating match.