Dundee boss Tony Docherty hits out over ‘really harsh’ Celtic penalty decision as he says David Turnbull was ‘very cute’
DUNDEE manager Tony Docherty felt his side had been harshly dealt with when it came to the penalty which allowed Celtic to open the scoring at Parkhead yesterday.
The game was locked in a stalemate at Parkhead until Turnbull went to ground under contact from Dens defender Ryan Howley after 51 minutes.
The referee - who was well-positioned - initially awarded a free kick just outside the box before VAR intervened to correctly point out that the contact was inside the box.
The Hoops went on to be comfortable winners, with Turnbull slotting the penalty away and then Kyogo and Matt O'Riley also getting on the scoresheet.
But the penalty still became a bit of a post-match talking point - with the main point of difference from fans being whether Turnbull had succeeded in getting enough of his body across for it to be deemed that he had possession of the ball before being clipped, or whether he had merely initiated the contact himself.
Docherty himself said he felt the award was very harsh although he also chided his player as he said he didn't really need to go for it.
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He told Sky Sports: "I'm really disappointed with the penalty. It's such a soft penalty to concede.
"I've looked at it back a few times myself with the staff and I think there's minimal contact.
"David Turnbull is really cute he gets his body in front of young Ryan and Ryan doesn't really need to go and challenge for it.
"But I thought it was a really harsh decision to go against us and that was what it took. That first goal was such an important one.
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"When you lose the first goal that really is the most important thing, and to lose it in that manner.
"I think David Turnbull has been very cute.
"When the referee gives it it's outside the box, but to go back and look at that it was really, really harsh on us."
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