RYAN Porteous was branded a “cheat” by Jim Goodwin today for his role in Hibernian’s controversial first-half penalty in their win over Aberdeen.
The Scotland international appeared to tangle with Liam Scales inside the Dons’ box on the cusp of half-time, with the referee deciding the defender had dragged his opponent to the ground.
Replays suggested Porteous - no a stranger to controversy - had been just as culpable as Scales, but the Celtic loanee was given a second yellow card for his role in the late first-half drama. He had barely reached the Easter Road tunnel when Martin Boyle stroked home the penalty, which cancelled out Luis Lopes’ fourth-minute opener.
A Josh Campbell brace in the second-half eventually sent the three points Lee Johnson’s way, but Goodwin didn’t mince his words in the aftermath, accusing Porteous of “blatant cheating”.
“We showed our players a number of instances when Porteous has won penalties like that in the past,” the Aberdeen manager said. “People will say he’s good at it and he’s clever. But it’s blatant cheating as far as I’m concerned and it’s cost my team points.
“And I’m going to now have to go without Liam Scales again too, a big important player. It’s extremely disappointing, even more so for our supporters who paid a lot of money to travel down to Aberdeen to watch a game and be entertained. The second half was just impossible.”
Calling for VAR to be introduced as soon as possible - it could be in place before December’s World Cup break - the Aberdeen manager said he believed the possibility of Scottish referees going full-time also had to be considered.
He continued: “I told Porteous to his face after the game what I thought of him. I don’t care what he reads in the paper on Sunday and Monday.
“He knows. He’s laughing about it. He celebrates winning penalty-kicks like he’s scored a goal.
“Listen, he’s a good player. He got his international recognition last week, but I just don’t know how people can be fooled by it continuously.
“The guys on Sportscene will no doubt highlight it and it will show his right arm around Liam Scales’ neck in a headlock, dragging him to the floor.”
