Ally McCoist was left furious after Celtic leapfrogged Rangers in the Premiership table following their victory at Pittodrie, insisting that Benjamin Nygren’s winning goal should have been ruled out for offside.
The Rangers legend was adamant the Sweden international was in an illegal position when he scored, despite the official VAR lines showing Nygren was behind the last defender, Gavin Molloy. McCoist was having none of it, and vented his frustration on talkSPORT with a colourful reference to the late cross-eyed comedian Marty Feldman, suggesting whoever was operating VAR needed their eyesight examined urgently. He acknowledged the joke might be lost on younger listeners but made his point with considerable force regardless.
Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven was also left seething, demanding an explanation as to why the VAR team had only drawn a single line during the review rather than the usual pair used to determine offside calls. Images from the Sky Sports camera initially appeared to cast doubt on the decision, though a second freeze frame subsequently removed any uncertainty about the call.
Elsewhere in the match, former referee Mark Clattenburg raised questions about the penalty awarded against Liam Scales for a foul on Toyosi Olusanya. Referee Nick Walsh pointed to the spot immediately after Scales swung a boot at the Aberdeen forward and made contact, but Clattenburg, speaking to 67 Hail Hail, was not convinced the decision would have survived VAR scrutiny had it gone the other way. He described the contact as soft and suggested that once Walsh made the call on the field, VAR had no grounds to intervene in either direction. Clattenburg also noted that Olusanya had been clever in manoeuvring his leg across to invite the contact, while acknowledging that Scales had taken a risk in attempting to play the ball in the first place.