Two yards away from the action, the goal line official bottled it.
Celtic were sent crashing out of the Scottish Cup semi-finals on Sunday after losing 3-2 to Inverness Caledonian Thistle after extra time.
However, Celtic’s hopes of completing the treble could have remained intact if the goal line official had been on his game.
Leigh Griffiths found himself with just a defender between him and the goal after the Inverness goalkeeper was caught in No Man’s Land early in the second half. Griffith’s got on the end of a deflected cross and guided the ball with his head towards goal. His header looked destined for the back of the net but he was denied being added to scoresheet after Josh Meekings blocked the shot with his hand.
Despite being denied a certain goal-scoring opportunity by a blatant handball, no penalty was awarded and the offending player wasn’t penalised. Inverness went on to take the game to extra time, where goals from Ofore and Raven saw them claim victory.
The club’s official Twitter account posted some quotes from Hoops’ boss Ronny Delia after the final whistle and the manager was understandably distraught over the incident. Had Meekings been sent off, and had Celtic been awarded the penalty, Delia reckons it could have changed the course of the game.
RD again on the handball: "We have five referees, maybe we need seven – one on each post." (MH)
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 19, 2015
RD: "It’s hard for me to discuss this. A tough blow for me and the boys. We are very disappointed. We should have killed the game." (MH)
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 19, 2015
RD: "Everybody knows that the game would have been finished. Referees make mistakes as well but this one is hard to take." (MH)
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 19, 2015
Hat-tip to Reddit
