Referee Nick Walsh and his VAR assistant Willie Collum may have made a huge mistake in the most recent Celtic game as they decided to send off Alex Cochrane.

What’s the latest on VAR and Celtic?

The Bhoys had the chance to seal the Scottish Premiership title on Sunday afternoon as they made the trip to Tynecastle Park to take on Hearts.

However, Ange Postecoglou and co were unable to accomplish much in the first half as they were held by their opponents pretty efficiently.

That was until shortly before the break when Daizen Maeda latched on to a ball over the top but was then tugged back by Cochrane.

As this footage shows on Sky Sports Scotland, the Celtic man had yet to bring the ball down and there were other Hearts players racing back, so there was no guarantee he would have been able to clearly get a shot away at goal.

This seemed to be the immediate opinion of Walsh who awarded a freekick and simply booked Cochrane but VAR quickly got involved.

Was it a fair red card for Cochrane against Celtic?

Seeing as VAR is only supposed to get involved when a referee has made a clear and obvious mistake, Collum had no reason to intervene and ask referee Walsh to upgrade it to a red card.

Despite that, VAR evidently felt as though Cochrane deserved the red as he was just about the last man – ignoring the fact that other Hearts players would have been on the scene, covering the situation in seconds.

When speaking on Sky Sports, co-commentator Andy Walker immediately condemned the decision, saying: “He is going to send him off and that is harsh.” He then added:

“This is a horrible use of VAR and the game has been ruined.”

While former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart was even firmer with his judgement on the situation, telling BBC Sportsound: “That’s an utter nonsense as a red card, but nothing would surprise me.

“Did you see any Celtic players complaining? No. Everyone had a sense that a yellow card was the right decision.

“Utter garbage. What an absolute shambles.”

And even former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner agreed, also telling the BBC: “I don’t think it’s a red card, I’ll be honest. There’s no malice, there’s other players coming back.”

All in all, it’s fair to say VAR completely got this one wrong and Cochrane and his Hearts teammates will have every right to feel aggrieved.