CELTIC have had three players red-carded in under an hour of action in their last two games against Feyenoord and Livingston.
Amazingly, that is the SAME number of sendings-off amassed by the champions during the entirety of last season.
Swedish new Bhoys Gustaf Lagerbiekle and Odin Holm were dismissed in the 2-0 loss in the opening Champions League Group E encounter in Rotterdam last Tuesday.
The central defender was first to be banished in the 63rd minute when the Bosnian match official issued a second yellow card following a pathetic piece of play-acting by the Dutch side’s Igor Paixao to win his team a penalty-kick. Justice was done when Joe Hart plunged to his right to save the award from the same player.
OFF NIGHT…midfielder Odin Holm sees red in Rotterdam after his lunging challenge on the grounded Mats Weifer.
Inside six minutes, midfielder Holm threw himself into a wayward challenge on an opponent and that provoked a straight red from the referee.
Completing an unwanted hat-trick, 36-year-old 75 times-capped England international netminder Hart was expelled for the first time in his career after a 29th-minute clash with Livingston striker Mo Sangare just outside the box in the 3-0 victory at the weekend.
Whistler John Beaton didn’t hesitate to inform the experienced shotstopper that his involvement in the game was over.
Last season, the same official dismissed captain Callum McGregor late in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Motherwell at Parkhead in October 2022.
The midfielder was adjudged to have been last-man defender when he brought down Ross Tierney as reacted to a misplaced passback from Reo Hatate.
OFF DAY…Callum McGregor is dismissed by referee John Beaton in the 89th minute of Celtic’s 2-1 win over Motherwell at Parkhead in October last year.
On Christmas Eve, it was David Turnbull’s turn to be banished deep in stoppage-time with the Hoops leading St Johnstone 4-1 at Parkhead.
The substitute challenged keeper Remy Matthews for a high ball and was booked by Kevin Clancy. The referee was instructed by his VAR colleagues to view the incident again and he returned to scrap the yellow card and replace it with red.
Coincidentally, it was the same whistler who completed Celtic’s red-card count for the campaign when he ordered off Daizen Maeda in the 4-2 loss to Hibs at Easter Road in May.
It’s a bit of a mystery to note that it took the Parkhead men 53 games to have three players red-carded last season and they have equalled that sum inside two outings this time around!
