'I got there in time': Johnston still frustrated about disallowed goal

Alistair Johnston remains convinced that “he got there in time” and that there was no legitimate reason for what would have been an equalising goal for Celtic to be chalked off in their 2-1 defeat at Hibernian on Saturday.

The Hoops thought they had made it 2-2 when Daizen Maeda slammed in from close range in the 83rd minute but, following a lengthy VAR check, it was contentiously deemed that the ball had crossed the byline before Johnston cut it back from the right.

Celtic are adamant that no images they have seen prove the ball went out of play, and manager Brendan Rodgers said on Monday that “we go through the process, we don’t make statements and all sorts of things. We just go through the procedure and the process, which is the club speak to the SFA and just get a feeling of what they think.”

Canadian right-back Johnston, reflecting on the incident at Easter Road ahead of Tuesday’s visit from Aberdeen, said: “I thought I got there in time. It felt like one of those ones that I knew was going to be close, but at the same time, I’m often putting crosses in from that exact area when I’m reaching, and that one to me felt like it was in.

“Obviously, the linesman thought it was in as well. Our whole fanbase thought it was in, everyone thought it was in. So we’re just going to wait and hear what the exact explanation was on why it was overturned.”

Johnston said he felt VAR should only have got involved if there was certainty that the on-field officials had got it wrong by allowing the goal to stand.

“I think that’s the frustrating part, is that if you want VAR to intervene, and especially on things where it’s either yes or no – it’s objective, it’s not subjective – you need to then obviously have a camera angle that can prove that,” he said.

“And, unfortunately, I think up here that, I’m not sure if it’s just the budget, but we obviously just don’t have enough camera angles to really have 100 per cent certainty on decisions.

“If that’s the case, then you really should stick with what the the officials have made the decision on the field with. I think that’s something everyone can kind of agree on.

“If the money’s there to have the goal-line technology and the cameras and all the different angles, then that would be unbelievable, because you would make sure that you get all those calls 100 per cent correct.

“But at the same time, if it’s not there for whatever reason, then we’ve also got to trust that the people, the refs are of the standard to be able to do their job and trust that they’re doing their job correctly.”