Celtic midfielder Nir Bitton has been savaged by Craig Levein, who described his penalty at the weekend as ‘terrible’ on BBC Sportsound.
The lowdown
The Hoops beat Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers 4-0 at Parkhead to book their place in the last eight of the Scottish Cup.
Liam Scales, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Jota were on the scoresheet before Bitton had the opportunity to add a fourth goal from the penalty spot two minutes from time following a handball from Sean Mackie.
Raith goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald saved the initial effort but the £14,000-per-week Israeli midfielder untidily dispatched the rebound.
BBC Sport’s Clive Lindsay described it as ‘a bit of a calamity of a goal’, and Levein went further in his wording of the botched spot kick.
The latest
The former Scotland manager was providing commentary on the match for BBC Sportsound and he passed a withering remark about the nature of Bitton’s goal in the 4-0 win for Celtic.
Levein quipped: “He should only get half a goal for that. It was a terrible penalty and a terrible follow-up.”
The verdict
You can see what Levein and Lindsay mean. Bitton’s penalty was bound for the bottom right-hand corner, but the lack of power allowed MacDonald to get down and make the save. The ‘keeper was then unfortunate to see the rebound bounce over him and into the net.
In many ways, it summed up the nature of Celtic’s performance against the Championship side – scruffy, but ultimately job done. Indeed, Ange Postecoglou admitted that his team had lacked ‘tempo’ in the first half and had been guilty of taking ‘too many touches’ before producing a ‘better’ second half display to see them through.
Bitton might not worry too much about it for now, but you’d certainly hope that he improves his penalty-taking technique before the next time he approaches the spot.
In other news, find out who Celtic scouts have been watching.