Befuddled Tony Docherty gripes at VAR as Dundee boss also bemoans soft Celtic penalty decision

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Dundee boss Tony Docherty said his team were ‘hard done by’ when a penalty was awarded against them in the defeat to Celtic on Wednesday.

The Dee put in a solid performance despite the 2-0 loss and frustrated Celtic for large parts of the encounter before the deadlock was broken after 60 minutes.

Alistair Johnston scored the opening goal but there was controversy soon afterwards when Kyogo went down very softly under the attentions of defender Antonio Portales.

Portales did make contact with the Japanese striker but Kyogo was quick to fall to the floor and shout for a penalty to be given, which ultimately was the case.

That made it 2-0 when Arne Engels converted and made it extremely difficult for Dundee to then get anything out of the clash.

Docherty was proud of his players but wasn’t happy with the penalty call and an incident leading up to the award when he felt Mo Sylla was fouled.

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Docherty on Celtic penalty decision

The Dundee manager spoke to The Courier after the game, saying: “I was really pleased. I thought it was a sterling effort. A really good, strong performance.

“It’s a difficult place to come. You’re playing against a top, top opponent. They’re a fantastic team. They move the ball. They get into good areas.

“I asked the players tonight to be resolute, to be really organised. We’d worked on a shape and to try and execute a game plan, which I think they did.

“So I was really proud of them. I thought the boys deserved a clean sheet for the amount of work they put in. I think the penalty is really soft. There’s a foul that leads up to it on Mo Sylla.

“I don’t know why they don’t pick that up. I’ve seen it back. And I think Antonio Portales touches the ball and he doesn’t even know where Kyogo is. Kyogo goes down and Tony’s telling me, and I’ve seen it myself, I don’t think it’s a penalty.

“But when it goes to 2-0, that makes it so much more difficult. I don’t think the boys deserved that. So I was really proud of their performance tonight and I thought they were hard done by for that penalty.”

Dundee’s next Premiership fixtures

It’s been a tough time for Dundee in the league of late. They’ve only won one of their last nine in the Premiership and defeat at Celtic Park leaves them in 10th.

Only Hibs and Hearts are below the Dens Park club and at the moment, the success of finishing in the top six last season feels like a million miles away.

The face a resurgent Kilmarnock side on Sunday who beat Dundee at Dens Park only a few weeks ago in dramatic fashion. It’s then a very difficult trip to high-flying Aberdeen before a meeting with the Hibees, certainly the most winnable game of the three.