Braga beat Celtic after VAR disallowed Iheanacho goal

Celtic fell to a 2-0 defeat by Braga at Celtic Park on Thursday night after a contentious video assistant referee intervention wiped out Kelechi Iheanacho's second-half leveller and the Portuguese side sealed the win with a late second. Ricardo Horta opened the scoring with a long-range strike in the first half and Gabri Martinez added a close-range finish five minutes from time to compound Celtic's difficult start to their Europa League campaign.

The flashpoint came shortly after the 50th minute when Iheanacho capitalised on a loose clearance to surge through one on one and slot the ball into the bottom corner. The goal was initially celebrated but a prolonged VAR review followed. Video assistant Christian Dingert deemed there had been handball in the build-up and referee Tobias Stieler signalled that the goal would be disallowed under the mechanism for factual overturns, which does not require the referee to consult the pitchside monitor. Television replays shown after the decision indicated the ball struck Iheanacho's face or shoulder rather than his arm, a detail that fuelled widespread criticism of the ruling.

Manager Brendan Rodgers described the decision as inexplicable...