FURIOUS Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass has criticised the match officials for allowing Jota’s winner for Celtic to stand in last night’s thrilling match at Pittodrie.
The Dons clawed back a two-goal deficit to have the old stadium rocking, but Jota burst the home side’s bubble by firing what ultimately proved to be the winning goal just minutes after the hosts had remarkably equalised.
The Aberdeen players were incensed though that the goal was awarded, claiming that Celtic’s Liel Abada was interfering with play from an offside position, and their manager agreed. He also claimed that the Celtic winger had fouled Aberdeen defender David Bates.
“I was [furious] as well,” Glass said. “To me looking from the side he looks offside. “Regardless, he fouls Bates and stops him from getting back to Jota, who scores the goal. “Again I come in and say it every week but don’t want to talk about referees. There are reasons you ask me these questions.”
Glass also complained of inconsistent treatment at the hands of the fourth official, as he was warned off approaching referee Willie Collum after the game.
“I was warned or told before the end of the game not to go on the pitch and speak to the referee,” he said. “He didn’t tell two managers, he told one. Maybe he has realised he has made a mistake. “The fourth official was told to tell us not to speak on the pitch after the game. Both managers didn’t get treated the same. Maybe there is a reason for that.
“All we can focus on and control are the performance levels. First half we didn’t get close enough to them and I am not going to blame referees because we need to be better performance-wise. “First half we didn’t get enough pressure up the pitch and in the second half I thought we rectified that. “We ran them pretty close and it was disappointing to lose the goal as quickly after we got our second. We kept pushing and trying and I am proud of the players in the second half.”
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