CELTIC’S miserable weekend was complete when they were overtaken at the Premiership pinnacle for the first time this season when Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side enjoyed a VAR-assisted 3-0 win over St Johnstone in Perth this afternoon.
TWO penalty-kicks were awarded after the technical assistant in front of the multi-screens ordered reviews of two incidents.
The Govan club scored the opener shortly before the interval when Saints defender Liam Gordon’s slack pass teed up Mohamed Diomande for his first goal for the team.
It was also the visitors’ only shot on target in the opening 45 minutes at McDiarmid Park.
With 11 minutes to go – and the visitors toiling for a second goal – they were awarded a spot-kick following a VAR review after an Andy Considine tackle on Dujon Sterling.
Referee Matthew MacDermid was advised by technical assistant Greg Aitken to review the challenge.
The whistler returned to the pitch, pointed to the spot and penalty expert James Tavernier swept the award high into the net.
In the 87th minute, there was a touch of deja vu when the match official saw nothing untoward when a left-wing cross in the hosts’ box was cleared.
Once more, the eagle-eyed Aitken spotted a potential infringement and MacDermid reviewed the incident on his touchline monitor.
The visiting fans welcomed the decision of a handball against Luke Robinson and Tavernier gratefully accepted the award to fire in No.3.
The win put the Ibrox club into pole position by two points with 12 games to play.
