Kelechi Iheanacho has hit out at UEFA’s VAR system after a controversial handball call denied him a crucial equaliser in Celtic’s 2-0 Europa League defeat to Braga at Parkhead, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Nigerian forward thought he had levelled the tie five minutes into the second half when he collected a loose ball, lifted it over a defender and drove it beyond Matheus in the Braga goal.
But German referee Tobias Stieler ruled the strike out, judging the ball had brushed Iheanacho’s arm in the build-up.
Replays, however, appeared to show it struck his face.
“That was an awful decision from them,” Iheanacho fumed afterwards as per The Sun UK.
“The ball didn’t hit my hand, it hit my face. It was an awful decision and it changed the game. We could have been back in it. We are disappointed, I don’t know what they did there. The referee knows it wasn’t a handball. It changed the game and hopefully they can sort that out.”
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The Super Eagles striker completed 90 minutes for the first time in a Celtic shirt, in what was his fifth appearance for the Scottish champions.
The former Leicester City star had been on the verge of writing himself into the club’s history books: according to UEFA, Iheanacho would have become the first Celtic player in three decades to score in his opening two European outings.
Instead, Celtic were left frustrated again in front of their own fans.
Ricardo Horta’s blistering first-half strike had put Braga ahead, and substitute Gabri Martínez made sure of the points late on, bundling home after a fortunate ricochet off his body wrong-footed Kasper Schmeichel.
Brendan Rodgers was equally incensed by the decision to chalk off Iheanacho’s goal, revealing the club have asked UEFA for clarification.
“We are still waiting to hear what the reason was and it was a pivotal moment in the game,” the Celtic manager said.
“For the life of me, I don’t understand why it wasn’t given. It wasn’t even close to being a handball and we are waiting on an explanation. I can’t understand why the referee isn’t asked to go and have a look at that. If you look at it once, twice, and I’m assuming the people in the VAR room have looked at it more than that, there’s absolutely no way it hits him there.”
The defeat leaves Celtic with just one goal in their last three games and adds to the scrutiny on Rodgers, whose side have already drawn a blank in five of their 12 fixtures this season, as many as they did across the whole of last term.