Angry Celtic manager Neil Lennon says he will be looking for answers from referee Willie Collum who he claims got two big decisions wrong as Rangers came from behind to win 3-1 at Parkhead.
Angry Celtic manager Neil Lennon says he will be looking for answers from referee Willie Collum who he claims got two big decisions wrong as Rangers came from behind to win 3-1 at Parkhead.
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The win sent Rangers three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League as Celtic lost for the first time in 17 league games since the former club captain Lennon took charge of the side in March.
It was the fourth match in succession that Rangers had come from behind at the break to ultimately win and sets a new Scottish record for nine wins in a row at the start of an SPL campaign.
Gary Hooper had fired Celtic into the lead in first-half injury time but a Glenn Loovens own goal put Rangers level three minutes after the break.
Kenny Miller turned the game around as he volleyed Rangers ahead in the 54th minute before scoring his 13th of the season from the penalty spot as he scored a double in the first Old Firm game of the season for the third season in succession.
It was the first time 31-year-old Collum had taken charge of the fixture and before the game Lennon, who pointed to decisions that had gone against his side in the derby last season, had called on the referee to stay strong and get the big decisions right.
"I thought he (Collum) got a couple of big decisions wrong. He has a lot of questions to answer and I want to know why (Lee) McCulloch was still on the pitch when it was a blatant obstruction when we were on the break.
"It was his second yellow and really Rangers should have been down to ten men in the second-half.
"I feel let down on the penalty decision that's for sure. It was a poor decision and I'm not sure how much he saw of it.
"It looks soft to me. If you look at him I'm not sure he has seen it and I don't know why he's given it.
"At 2-1 we are still in the game, at 3-1 it is very difficult for us.
"There was a long way to go in the game and we were trying to regroup and trying to get ourselves a foothold in the game. Daniel has decided to pull out of the tackle and Kirk Broadfoot's gone over very easily.
"I'm not going to go on about the referee as I have my own problems regarding the team but you've got to get the big decisions right and that's another big decision that's gone against us. I will be asking for an explanation from him."
However his Rangers counterpart Walter Smith, who overtook former Ibrox boss Scot Symon and Celtic manager Jock Stein as the most successful Old Firm manager of all-time with his 27th win in the fixture, criticised the pressure the referee had been put under prior to kick-off.
"A lot of the stuff in the Old Firm gets exaggerated - from the referee's influence all the way down to everything else," Smith said.
"Willie Collum was under unfair pressure - there isn't any doubt about that.
"I felt he handled the game extremely well. We will always have arguments about one or two decisions but that's two Old Firm games out of three the referee has been placed under an unfair pressure before the start of the game.
"In the majority of Old Firm games I've been involved in if you sit down and look at it later on it is the best team that wins.
"There is too much focus being placed on referees at the present moment and there comes a time when we've got to stop and have a look at what is actually happening and not kept blaming the officials for it.
"We all fall out with them and we all have our own ideas about decisions that go against us or not.
"There does come a time when you have to look a lot deeper than that or there is no use playing the game."
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