Celtic scored five outstanding goals as they beat St Johnstone into submission in the Scottish Cup.
The Perth side put up a valiant first-half display and kept Celtic at bay until the 34th minute of the Hampden clash.
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But that performance ulitmately was in vain after Celtic left Simo Valakari shellshocked on the Hampden touchline as the Bhoys rattled in four goals in quick succession.
Jota added a fifth in the second half but the scoreline could and probably shoud have been larger had James Forrest’s Celtic penalty award stood.
Michael Stewart’s original verdict on Celtic penalty vs St Johnstone
Michael Stewart was on co-commentary duty and here he delivers what he first thought about the decision to award Celtic a penalty after James Forrest was ‘wiped out’ in the St Johnstone box.
Stewart told Premier Sports, “Not too many complaints, but I think it’s a penalty kick. But it wasn’t the mostblatant.
“When you saw it in real time, you thought he’s been wiped out. I do think it is a penalty. It’s a great run from Forrest as he drives at the heart of the defense.
“It looked as if he’d maybe wiped him out in real time, but it certainly wasn’t the case so they are checking it.”
And as VAR checked the decision, the longer the check went on, Celtic fans knew what was going to happen.
What VAR said before ruling out James Forrest’s Celtic penalty vs St Johnstone
Speaking as the lengthy VAR check went on, Stewart disclosed what the video referees were discussing and it sheds light on how they came to the conclusion that the original award of a spot kick was wrong.
Stewart continued, “It’s just a shoulder contact. You can hear VAR talking about that as well, that this first challenge, there isn’t really a great deal in that. And I think that’s right.
“I thought that there was more than that first challenge. Yes, he doesn’t win it, and that one from Maladis is nothing, really.
“He’s coming across. It’s coming together. Originally, I was thinking it was a penalty. I’m not sure. When you look at it from the second angle, you can see, it’s not like he’s having his leg out of the way so I think the right decision has been arrived at here.”
Such a bizarre conclusion to come to seeing as the St Johnstone player’s forearm smashed into Forrest’s face.
However, the decision had no long-term bearing on the result as Celtic motored into the Scottish Cup final.
But Celtic fans will be hoping that this kind of contentious decision doesn’t happen against Aberdeen in the final as they watch Brendan Rodgers aim to secure another treble.
Brendan Rodgers watched his Celtic side conjure up another Hampden semi-final masterclass as the Hoops almost emulated their big League Cup semi win against Aberdeen earlier this season.
The 5-0 Celtic win was a fitting scoreline to a dominant performance, however, St Johnstone did put up an early second-half fight where Makenzie Kirk scored a beatiful long-range effort to pull the score back to 4-1.
Howver, a foul on Celtic striker Adam Idah meant VAR ruled the strike out but and although the universal opinion was that the decision was correct, it seems that former SFA referees Steve Conroy and Des Roache have a strange take on it.
