Astana are not at all happy with Leigh Griffiths.
The Celtic striker ended up scoring a crucial away goal towards the closing stages of the Hoops’ Champions League third qualifying group first leg in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
But Astana believe that the forward should not have even been on the pitch as, two minutes earlier, he clashed with defender Igor Shitov in the penalty area.
Griffiths was booked by referee Paolo Mazzoleni but the reigning Kazakhstan Premier League champions took to Twitter on Thursday morning to suggest that it should have been red and that Griffiths ought to be suspended for the return leg.
https://twitter.com/fca_kz/status/758585909822550020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The above tweet translates to ‘Griffiths punches Shitov in the match’ and it’s difficult to tell whether the Scotland international merely shoved his marker to the ground or whether he connected with a closed fist, although the former appears the more likely.
Griffiths played down the incident after the game.
“There was a bit of handbags and one of their men went down,” he told reporters. “Both of us could have been booked to be honest.
“The ref could have let it go but I was the one who got booked.
“But I managed to silence the crowd a few minutes later so it worked out fine.”
