Derek McInnes brands Celtic penalty award 'disgusting' after late winner

Derek McInnes says the decision to award Celtic a penalty in injury time against Motherwell was “disgusting”.

Kelechi Iheanacho converted a spot-kick in the final minute of injury time to keep Celtic one point behind McInnes’ Hearts side, who sailed past Falkirk with a 3-0 win at Tynecastle.

Former Hearts midfielder Sam Nicholson was penalised for handball after jumping to head the ball away. The ball appeared to hit his raised hand right in front of his head.

Referee John Beaton was called to the monitor by video assistant Andrew Dallas as five minutes of stoppage time were coming to a close.

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Kelechi Iheanacho netted an injury time penalty to put the away side 3-2 up.

Beaton pointed to the spot, and Iheanacho kept his cool to seal victory and spark a pitch invasion from the visiting fans.

McInnes, who watched his side remain one point clear of chasing Celtic after the 3-0 win, says he has seen the decision and finds it “disgusting”.

He said: “I had heard there was a 96th-minute penalty, I didn’t need to ask who for, and it was going to VAR.

“Celtic deserve a lot of credit, Martin deserves a lot of credit because they’re on such good form. Us and Celtic have been the best teams over the last wee while.”

He added: “I knew I was going to get asked the question and having seen it [penalty decision] it feels like us against everybody.

“When you see the two that we didn’t get at the weekend and then you see that…how can they arrive at that situation?

“Celtic have had more than a touch of fortune of getting that penalty. I’m getting more and more dismayed at some of the decisions our referees are coming up with.

“It’s such a bad decision, Motherwell must feel totally aggrieved with it. I had to keep looking at it, I thought I was missing something when I was watching it.

“It’s actually quite disgusting, to be honest.”