Celtic got off to the perfect start at The Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, as Partick Roberts scored against his parent club in the 3rd minute with a fine individual effort that made Gael Clichy look rather silly.
Kelechi Iheanacho then hit back less than five minutes later, and despite the frantic start the scores remained level at the break, but Celtic really should have been given the chance to re-take the lead from the penalty spot.
It was Roberts who again got the better of Clichy, and as the Frenchman blatantly pulled him back with both arms the Celtic players and fans were waiting for the whistle to follow, but it never came. Instead, Mikael Lustig was booked for presumably asking what the hell the additional goal-line refereeing assistant was doing, a question that seems to pop up with alarming regularity.
Neil Lennon was analysing the game for TV3, and he described the decision as hilarious as he simply could not believe the decision to punish the Celtic player and not Clichy.
Spot on from Lennon, it was a strange decision.
The debate then turned to whether or not Roberts needed to go down to earn the penalty. It's easy to see why Tommy Martin asked the question, as had the youngster hit the deck with his arms flailing it almost certainly would have been given..
But really, if a referee or his assistant who is standing close enough to be able to smell both players involved can't see that as a foul, and need a player to dive to make a point, then we're in big trouble.
