Chris Sutton has criticised the reaction to the controversial award of a penalty to Celtic on Wednesday night, suggesting that outrage from certain quarters was fuelled by a bias against Martin O'Neill's side.
Referee John Beaton was sent to the monitor by the VAR in the 97th minute of Celtic's trip to Motherwell and eventually awarded a penalty for a handball by Sam Nicholson.
Kelechi Iheanacho converted the resulting spot-kick to complete a 3-2 victory for Celtic and ensure they can still win the Scottish Premiership with a victory over Hearts by any scoreline on the final day.
"Now the dust has settled..." Sutton -- who scored 85 goals in 198 appearances for Celtic -- wrote on social media, "the reaction from many high profile people is way over the top.
"John Beaton was advised to go to the monitor and saw that the ball hit the arm in an unnatural position.
"Bottom line is people would hate to see Celtic win the title again and that is all."
The incident, in which Nicholson was adjudged to have handled the ball with his right hand as he raised it in front of his face while jumping for a header, drew criticism from a number of pundits and fans.
"This might be the worst VAR decision I've seen (and there's a lot of competition)," Gary Lineker wrote on social media. "Extraordinary given the significance."
Sutton later replied to Lineker, writing: "It's what VAR is there for."
On Thursday, former Rangers manager Ally McCoist called it a "horrendous decision that has, once again, embarrassed Scottish football."
The ex-Scotland international added on talkSPORT: "If anything good has come out of it, it was that awful a decision that the whole country is talking about it.
"We must get rid of VAR, particularly in Scotland. Because instead of helping officials, it's making us look like absolute clowns. We are a laughing stock."
Following the game, former Rangers and Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd was similarly critical of the decision.
"If you throw a ball at someone and it hits your hand, it will drop a couple of yards in front of you," Boyd said on Sky Sports, referencing the fact that the ball went back out of the penalty area for a throw-in.
"It is impossible -- impossible -- to get that distance on a header like that if it's hitting your hand first. It's impossible."
In a post on social media, Sutton also referenced Boyd's reaction, writing: "I'm worried Boydy may explode."
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Hearts are looking to become the first team other than Celtic or Rangers since 1985 to win the Scottish league title.
Their 3-0 victory over Falkirk on Wednesday night meant that -- had Celtic drawn their game against Motherwell -- Hearts would only have needed to avoid a defeat by three goals in Saturday's showdown in order to secure the title.
In light of Iheanacho's winner, they now have to avoid any defeat at Celtic Park.
"It's such a bad decision," Hearts manager Derek McInnes said of the incident. "Motherwell must feel totally aggrieved.
"I had to keep looking at it because I thought I was missing something. When I was watching it I had to ask 'what I am looking for here?' It's actually quite disgusting."
Information from PA contributed to this report.
