SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE Hibernian 0 Celtic 1: A PENNY for Arsene Wenger's thoughts. Four days and thousands of column inches since Eduardo da Silva's penalty-box dive for Arsenal against Celtic, it was the Scottish side who were at the centre of a simulation controversy. As far as the Celtic manager, Tony Mowbray, is concerned, Eduardo's con trick – or more accurately the hubris which has followed it – played a part in the dismissal of Aiden McGeady.
McGeady, already on a yellow card for a first-half foul on Derek Riordan, earned a second caution after 62 minutes having embellished a challenge from Paul Hanlon near the halfway line. Cue much wailing from Celtic’s supporters – the same ones who have been calling for Eduardo to be hung, drawn and quartered in recent days – and a similarly perplexed reaction from Mowbray.
In what was a highly amusing post-match scene, the manager even refused to watch the contentious incident when replayed on a television monitor beside him.
“I don’t need to watch it again, it happened right beside me,” Mowbray insisted. “If the Eduardo thing hadn’t been blown up, hadn’t become nationally so big, then never in a million years was that a yellow card. The match officials got sucked in.
“If it hadn’t happened this week, 99 times out of 100 that decision would not have been given. I think we are all in disbelief; the linesman even signalled for a free-kick to us at the time and he was a lot closer to the incident than the referee.”
McGeady’s red card threatened to halt Celtic’s flawless start to the league season but basic belligerence, and some brilliance from their goalkeeper Artur Boruc, secured the three points. Hibernian laid siege to the visiting goal in the closing stages, Boruc superbly clawing a David Wotherspoon volley on to the frame of the goal.
Ultimately Hibs could not cancel out Georgios Samaras’s 41st-minute goal, which was headed beyond Graham Stack from six yards after a fine Andreas Hinkel cross. Mowbray refused to confirm that his trio of McGeady, Scott Brown and Scott McDonald will still be Celtic players after the closure of the transfer window.
Guardian Service
