STUART ARMSTRONG hit out a blundering referee Ivan Kruzliak for refusing to award Celtic a stonewall first-half penalty-kick in their 1-0 Europa League loss in the San Siro.
The midfielder was bundled over in the 14th minute by panicking defender Davide Santon as he raced onto a pass from Stefan Johansen.
Remarkably, the match official waved play on and Inter Milan escaped, much to the amazement of the magnificent Celtic support, seen in the above photograph, who made the journey to Italy but were denied a fair contest by an incompetent group of officials.
Armstrong said: “Of course, I felt contact when I moved onto the ball.
“If there hadn’t been I would have gone on and taken a shot. There was no need to go down. It put me off balance.
“It’s just the way it’s gone tonight and it’s unfortunate for us.”
Armstrong, who was substituted by Kris Commons 11 minutes from time, added: “We’re all disappointed, of course.
“We put a lot into the game and, unfortunately, we got nothing out of it.
“The red card for Virgil Van Dijk was a bit harsh. But it was what it was and we had to get on with it.
“At that point we were in the game and had created a few chances. We probably should have tucked one away.
“There are a lot of disappointed boys in the dressing room feeling hard done by. But we can’t do anything about it now.
“We just have to get on with it.”
Van Dijk’s second booking occurred from a goal kick awarded to Inter which should have been a corner to Celtic.
