Martin O’Neill was left angry with the officials after Celtic’s 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo at Celtic Park.

The Hoops were leading through Mika Baur early in the second half and had chances to push further ahead, with Liam Scales hitting the woodwork and Benjamin Nygren forcing a good save from Ionut Radu.

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O’Neill was booked for his protests and made clear after the match that he felt Celtic should have had a foul before the decision went the other way.

Speaking to TNT Sports, O’Neill said: “We conceded a free-kick. I thought, just seconds before that, that we had a foul for us.

“Referee’s disowned that and given them a foul about 10 seconds later and they scored from the free-kick.”

That goal changed the feel of the night.

Celtic had looked in a decent position at 1-0, even if Celta were still moving the ball well. Once the equaliser went in, the visitors took control of the moment and Rodriguez struck again only minutes later.

He said: “Apparently, first of all, I thought there was a foul in the first half against Camilo and they said that VAR were checking it.

“I don’t know what we’re looking at because it was a very obvious foul.

“At the end of the day, I thought it was a foul against Camilo as well too just before.”

The Celtic boss did not try to pin the entire defeat on the referee Georgi Kabakov, but he clearly felt the call before Celta’s equaliser had a major impact.

He added: “They were given that. In the scheme of things, that seldom matters.

“I didn’t think it was one of his best games, to be perfectly honest, but we’ve got beaten in the game.”

Celtic still had enough time to respond after the equaliser, and O’Neill admitted his side should have stayed calmer.

But the frustration around the first Celta goal will not go away quickly.

Celtic are now without a point after three Europa League games, and the margins are getting smaller with every match. On a night where the Hoops badly needed the big moments to fall their way, O’Neill felt one of the key calls went against them.