SCOTT BROWN branded Jamie Walker a “cheat” after the midfielder clearly dived to earn Hearts a controversial penalty-kick in the Edinburgh side’s 2-1 defeat against Celtic at Tynecastle yesterday.
Walker scored from the spot to nullify James Forrest’s earlier goal, but new Bhoy Scott Sinclair capped a marvellous first appearance when he came off the subs’ bench to score the winner nine minutes from time.
However, the Hoops skipper was simmering at referee John Beaton’s admitted error in gifting Robbie Neilson’s outfit the opportunity to level matters before the interval.
Speaking of Walker, Brown said: “It is brilliant how well he dives. He is really good at that. He should have been in Rio.
“It was a dive. Cheat. What else can you say?
“The referee came out at half-time and said he got it completely wrong. He made the decision, he hasn’t seen it and the linesman’s not puts his flag up.
“It was always a hard game when you come here, a great atmosphere and you expect a hard challenge like they gave us.
“They tried to play football and mix it up, as well. Hearts are great at that, but sometimes there is no place in football for cheats and that’s been a couple of times here now.”
Walker attempted to justify the award by saying: “I knocked the ball on and I’ve seen him (Kieran Tierney) coming out the corner of my eye and felt contact, so I went down. At the end of the day, I am not the referee, I don’t give the decisions.”
Brendan Rodgers made a stark observation: “The referee made the mistake and, thankfully, it didn’t cost us, The young guy took a dive which was clear.”
