Steven Naismith sees Celtic penalty gripe ripped apart as Hearts boss pointed to the vital VAR angle

Irked Steven Naismith has been told he was WRONG to moan about Celtic being awarded a penalty - as Michael Stewart pointed the Hearts boss to one key VAR angle.

The Tynecastle boss was unhappy that referee Nick Walsh punished Alex Cochrane for a foul on Kyogo Furuhashi that saw the Scottish Premiership leaders awarded a penalty in their 4-1 rout in the capital. The man in the middle would be backed up by the VAR room and Reo Hatate would step up to take the penalty - but the Celtic star saw his effort crash off of Zander Clark's post.

And while Stewart admitted he initially agreed with the view of the Hearts boss - he reckons whistler Walsh and the VAR team got the call right when they were shown a replay of the flashpoint. The former Jambos midfielder told BBC Sportscene when asked about Naismith's viewpoint: "When I saw it at first I was unsure, then I saw a replay and I thought it was a poor decision.

"Having seen it again, to me, Alex Cochrane is trying to get out of the way and Kyogo does step across him. Alex Cochrane's right knee looks to me like it does go into his left knee in the back of his leg, and it is a penalty."

Naismith said after the full-time whistle: "It's one where the referee's made a call but we're meant to be eradicating these decisions throughout the game. but every week, we're still talking about whether it's a penalty or it isn't."