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‘I thought’… Lawrence Shankland issues interesting verdict on Yang’s red card in Celtic defeat

Jordan Harris

Sun 3 March 2024 15:00, UK

Lawrence Shankland has shared his verdict on the decision to send Hyun-jun Yang off for Celtic as the Hoops were beaten by Hearts on Sunday.

Brendan Rodgers’ men missed the chance to go back to the top of the Scottish Premiership as they suffered a 2-0 loss at Tynecastle. Certainly, that scoreline did not appear to be on the cards when Hyun-jun Yang won a penalty inside the first 11 minutes.

Adam Idah however, saw his effort saved. And things quickly went from bad to worse for Celtic, when Yang caught Alex Cochrane with a high boot.

Lawrence Shankland reacts to Hyun-jun Yang red card

Initially, the South Korean was booked for the foul. However, the VAR intervened and recommended that the decision was upgraded to a red card.

Neil Lennon branded the decision to send Yang off a shocker. And it seems that at least one Hearts player had some sympathy for the 21-year-old.

Speaking to after the game (broadcast on 3/3; 14:11), Lawrence Shankland – who scored the home side’s second of the game in the second-half – admitted that he was somewhat surprised to see Yang sent off for the visitors.

“You never really know to be honest. The two incidents were obviously the red card and the penalty. I’ve not seen the red card, but at the time, I thought probably pretty harsh to be honest with you. But I’ve not seen the contact so that’s commenting from afar,” he said.

A nightmare day at the office for Celtic

It is perhaps telling that Shankland felt that it was a harsh call. Very rarely do opposition players speak out against decisions which go for them.

And with Lennon clearly baffled by the call, Celtic may perhaps feel that they have a case to appeal against the red card.

Getting it overturned would provide a small amount of respite on a miserable day for the champions.