Martin O’Neill has accused VAR John Beaton of re-refereeing the game after Auston Trusty was controversially sent off in Celtic’s 2-2 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle.
Having seen Stuart Findlay cancel out Benjamin Nygren’s early opener, Celtic retook the lead when Yang Hyun-jun scored on the counterattack.
But the visitors’ hopes of moving to within three points of the leaders with a prized victory were dealt a savage blow 13 minutes from time.
Having originally been shown a yellow for taking down Landry Kabore by referee Steven McLean due to Dane Murray being close by, the American international was given his marching orders after Beaton urged the official to review the incident on his pitch-side monitor.
With the champions belatedly reduced to 10 men, they conceded a second equaliser to Claudio Braga with three minutes remaining.
And O’Neill said: ‘I was delighted with the effort of the team, particularly towards the end when we were down to 10 men again.
Referee Steven McLean shows Auston Trusty a yellow card for pulling down Landry Kabore
Trusty makes his way up the tunnel after a VAR review changes his yellow card to a red
Martin O’Neill has accused VAR official John Beaton of ‘re-refereeing the game’ at Tynecastle
‘It was a tough old match. I expected it to be and that’s exactly what it was.
‘I do have an argument with the red card. The referee gave a yellow and was sent over, with VAR obviously re-refereeing the game.
‘It’s no more a red card than a blue card – which don’t exist.
‘First of all, the ball was going away from goal, so the player had to get hold of it and control it.
‘Secondly, and more importantly, we’ve got someone on the cover. That’s what the referee saw in the first place and he was pretty close to it.
‘It’s not how it went and it puts you under severe pressure in those last 20 minutes.
‘I didn’t seek out the referee (for an explanation) but given the chance I might do.’
With Rangers winning against Dundee, the result saw Celtic slip back to third in the table, two points behind their city rivals and still six behind Hearts.
Given his side had played for an hour in Bologna on Thursday with 10 men, O’Neill was still inclined to view the result positively.
‘Maybe considering the circumstances, I might not disagree that it was a good point,’ he added.
‘They maybe had the opportunity with us down to 10 men and having played on Thursday night. But overall, a draw was probably a fair result.’
Asked to assess his side’s position in the frame with 15 games to go, O’Neill said: ‘We had a tough time at one minute to three and we still have a tough time now.
‘It’s another game gone past, but we are still in it.’
Having been disadvantaged in Italy by Reo Hatate’s dismissal, Trusty’s red card ensured O’Neill’s side were again stretched to their limits.
With a week left of the transfer window, O’Neill believes the case for new additions is compelling.
‘There is a concern,’ he said. ‘We played 60 minutes on Thursday with 10 men and not as long, but an important time psychologically and physically, with 10 again.
‘But they have shown great resolve. I don’t know about numbers, but we would definitely need some people in.’
O’Neill felt new signing Tomas Cvancara had an encouraging debut with the on-loan Borussia Monchengladbach forward assisting Yang’s goal before being substituted after being booked.
‘Yeah, once he got used to the surroundings,’ O’Neill said. ‘It was a difficult game for him to come in to.
‘I thought his run for the goal was fantastic, absolutely fantastic. He’ll do fine for us during the course of time when he gets to know all his teammates and has a couple of training sessions.
‘He’s got really good place, control and I was really pleased with him.
‘He was holding his hamstring and I was really worried, so that’s why we replaced him.’
O’Neill was asked if a genuine three-way title fight was good for the Scottish game.
“I’m obviously manager of Celtic so maybe I don’t see it that way,’ he said.
‘But when I wasn’t manager of Celtic I thought it was a really good thing and said so.
‘It does stimulate interest and it was good to see the crowd today.
‘I’m not saying Hearts don’t get full houses, but it’s been a great run by them. They’ve done brilliantly.’
Celtic now face Utrecht on Thursday in the Europa League needing a win to secure their spot in the knockout round.
Defender Kieran Tierney is a concern for that match, though, having left the field with a muscle complaint.
‘He’s pretty sore but we’ll see how he is for Thursday,’ he said.
‘Who would be left back? Me! I’ll make a comeback.
‘No. We might need to shift someone over.’
O’Neill played down suggestions that there was a bust-up between Derek McInnes and the Celtic backroom team with the Hearts boss taking exception to something that was said after the opening goal.
‘He didn’t say anything to me,’ he stated. ‘I genuinely don’t know.’
