Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has given Bobby Madden's performance in the derby between Rangers and Celtic a clean bill of health.
The 1-0 victory to Rangers was marked by a series of flashpoints where Madden had to make tough calls.
Nir Bitton was sent off on the 62nd minute of the powder keg as he hauled Alfredo Morelos to the deck when he had a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The moment changed the game and Madden's decision came under intense scrutiny online with some Celtic fans claiming Kris Ajer was in position to cover Morelos' path to goal.
But Gallagher has looked back on the game's three of the most difficult decisions and given the Scottish referee full marks - claiming only the decision to yellow card Shane Duffy for a wild lunge a borderline one.
Nir Bitton red card
"I watched this game live and I thought he’d get sent off. Once Morelos is past, he’ll go straight towards goal and the law says ‘Has he a goalscoring opportunity?’.
"That means can he get a shot away at goal, and I would suggest he would get a shot away at goal long before Ajer gets across because he’s parallel and there’s a great distance between them.
"It’s a challenge Bitton doesn’t need to make. Once you make a challenge like that you know it’s going to be a red card. I sometimes think a player should let him go and take a chance on the goalkeeper making a save or the player missing.
"For me, it’s a red card."
Alfredo Morelos late tackle on Jeremie Frimpong
"I think it's a yellow card but you can’t go that way round. When you’re on a yellow card and you make a challenge and don’t get sent off then you can say the referee hasn’t followed through. But he’s not on a yellow when he makes the second so it’s a different challenge, but when you see it, I think that’s a yellow card in itself."
Shane Duffy's lunge on Kent
"This is as high a tariff yellow card as you get. It must be bordering on red, not so much for the first leg but the fact he follows through. The ref has seen that, he’s just sent off Bitton, he needs to be assured that it really is pushed over the boundary but as it was right on it, he gave Shane Duffy the benefit of the doubt. As I said earlier, another day another referee that could have been a red card."
