Reo Hatate red card case against Dundee United dismissed as pundit pinpoints glaring Celtic issue
On-field referee David Dickinson did not penalize the midfielder for his challenge on United’s Luca Stephenson, but it was reviewed by VAR.
Hatate caught the Liverpool loanee after mishandling a pass from Anthony Ralston and going over the top of the ball while attempting to retrieve it.
Despite Dundee United supporters on social media saying Hatate should have been sent off with a picture of the tackle, Gavin Duncan elected not to send Dickinson to the monitor after reviewing the Clydesdale House incident with a pause in play.
On the other hand, “looking at the still it looks a bad one that should have been looked at, but when you watch it you can see it doesn’t meet the criteria of force, intent, or brutality to give a red card, although it was certainly worthy of a yellow card,” former referee Des Roache of The Ref’s View podcast told Record Sport.
Michael Stewart, meanwhile, believes that Celtic’s lack of width with Luis Palma at Tannadice was “obvious and telling.”
According to the Sportscene analyst, it was clear from his play that the Honduran international lacks confidence. As Brendan Rodgers’ team lost two points in a draw in the early kickoff on Sunday, he noted that not only the winger but also his teammates didn’t get into such byline positions frequently enough.
“You’re talking about a lack of width,” he said. “I think it was pretty clear and telling that he’s had Luis Palma on the park, and it felt to me that Ryan Strain had his number a little bit.”
“You can tell Luis Palma is low on confidence as well, but when it does go wide, you need your wide man to drop his shoulder, beat the full-back, and get into those areas close to the byline. Celtic, not just Palma, all across the team didn’t get to those areas as often as they would have wanted.”
The Hoops turned to the hugely experienced Dane in the summer after Hart hung up his gloves and moved into media duties. Schmeichel arrived on a one year deal with an option, with a decision beyond the summer yet to be made with the league leaders able to trigger that additional 12 months at any point.
“With all due respect to Joe Hart, he’s [Schmeichel] possibly been a bit of an upgrade in terms of how good he is with the ball at his feet and the way he wants to play,” the former Celtic winger stated in an interview with Sky Sports.He has a wealth of experience. He’s truly settled now.
He is an excellent goalie and has made several extremely important saves. Schmeichel has been outstanding for Celtic this season, but I believe Joe Hart was a slightly different goalie and perhaps a more outspoken leader.
