Credit: BBC Sportscene

Daniel Lewis

Thu 14 May 2026 7:10, UK

Michael Stewart has hit out after Celtic were awarded a controversial late penalty, despite an identical recent Rangers incident going unpunished.

Auston Trusty went to ground in the final seconds of Celtic’s clash with Motherwell on Wednesday night claiming he had been elbowed.

Referee John Beaton was sent to the monitor by VAR and ultimately awarded a spot-kick for handball, much to the shock of everyone in attendance at Fir Park.

Kelechi Iheanacho kept his cool to convert and earn Celtic a 3-2 win that leaves them needing a win over Hearts on Saturday to win the title.

But as pointed out by Stewart via social media, the lack of consistency from officials in Scottish football is now at a new low.

Dujon Sterling incident flagged after controversial Celtic penalty

Danny Rohl has bigger fish to fry right now after Rangers suffered defeat to Hibernian at Ibrox at the same time the dramatic events were unfolding elsewhere.

The German ultimately will not care how the dramatic title race concludes at the weekend, knowing his side have fallen well short.

But this is a wider issue in Scottish football, and the decision to award Celtic a penalty on Wednesday was simply wrong and changes the title picture completely.

Pundit Stewart took to X shortly after full-time to flag an incident involving Rangers defender Dujon Sterling recently.

Stewart shared footage of the incident from the Hearts game last week and added: “Andrew Dallas checked and cleared this at Tynecastle last Monday because he thought it hit Sterling’s shoulder.

“Willie Collum then gave guidance to referees this should not have been given because it was a challenge for the ball in a natural playing manner.

“Hearts were then denied a stonewall handball at Fir Park a few days later, perhaps due to this bizarre guidance.

“However, the same VAR (Andrew Dallas) now makes a decision with unfathomable consequences, which some describe as the worst VAR decision ever.”

As Stewart rightly says, officials have simply not stuck to the rules – whatever they may be. Identical scenarios have led to different decisions.

Hearts will rightly feel robbed if they finish second to Celtic, with the title potentially decided by some terrible officiating.

Rangers hit 40-year low elsewhere on Wednesday

In a different world, Rangers would have had a vested interest in the dramatic events at Fir Park, but instead they had what was effectively a dead-rubber against Motherwell.

Even if there was only pride on the line, Rohl’s men needed a win to boost morale and end a losing run that is now getting out of hand.

But the Gers were unable to do so and fell to another loss, this time going down 2-1 on home soil.

That makes it four league losses in a row for the first time since 1983.

While all the focus right now in Scotland is elsewhere, Rangers have some serious issues that need addressing.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.