Celtic extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to nine points last night as they defeated Livingston at Parkhead.

An own goal and a Kyogo Furuhashi strike separated the teams with Livingston grabbing one back through Nicky Devlin.

Both Celtic goals were assisted Liel Abada and he could have had a goal of his own if it wasn't ruled out for offside by VAR.

Ultimately the call never had a bearing on the outcome of the match, but the decision has still resulted in plenty of discussions.

Abada was yards offside when David Turnbull hoisted a hopeful ball forward but Morgan Boyes made a botched attempt to head clear, which arguably played the Israeli onside, and no flag was raised after the winger fired home.

However, referee Euan Anderson was called to a VAR review amid Boyes’ appeals that he was nudged by Abada in the act of clearing and the goal was eventually disallowed.

Former communications chief and now advisor to the SFA Darryl Broadfoot tweeted on the incident saying: "Interesting chatter following last night’s game.

"The answer to whether it’s offside or not comes down to deliberate play or not from Livi defender. Whether you agree with the decision or not, it’s made on that basis."

The IFAB ruling on ‘deliberate play’ offside states:

Following a number of high-profile situations and based on the expectation that a player who is clearly in an offside position should not become ‘onside’ on all occasions when an opponent moves and touches the ball, The IFAB and FIFA, after discussions with football stakeholders, have clarified the guidelines for distinguishing between ‘deliberate play’ and ‘deflection’.

The relevant part of Law 11 states as follows (emphasis added):

2. Offside offence
A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by:
(...)

gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has: 

rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar, match official or an opponent

(...)

A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent.

No change to Law 11 is necessary but, to reflect football’s expectation, the guidelines for distinguishing between ‘deliberate play’ and ‘deflection’ are clarified as follows:

‘Deliberate play’ is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of:

passing the ball to a team-mate; or

gaining possession of the ball; or

clearing the ball (e.g. by kicking or heading it).

If the pass, attempt to gain possession or clearance by the player in control of the ball is inaccurate or unsuccessful, this does not negate the fact that the player ‘deliberately played’ the ball.

The following criteria should be used, as appropriate, as indicators that a player was in control of the ball and, as a result, ‘deliberately played’ the ball:

The ball travelled from distance and the player had a clear view of it

The ball was not moving quickly

The direction of the ball was not unexpected

The player had time to coordinate their body movement, i.e. it was not a case of instinctive stretching or jumping, or a movement that achieved limited contact/control

A ball moving on the ground is easier to play than a ball in the air

Another interpretation is that Abada was interfering with Boyes’s attempt to play the ball by moving towards him from an offside position during the incident.

The IFAB's interference definition states:  "Interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate or interfering with an opponent by: - preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball or - clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or - making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball."

Celtic hero Tom Boyd was on commentary duties for the game and he disagreed with the call.

He said:  “The performance wasn’t our best to be fair. I thought first half we controlled the game and did the things we wanted to do but I was disappointed, we created some good opportunities, and didn’t have people in the box doing their jobs.

“Balls are getting flashed across and people aren’t in the areas they should be, and that’s disappointing because we work on that constantly and we have had a lot of success playing that way.

“When it doesn’t happen I get frustrated because I see no reason why it shouldn’t.

“The amount of time the ball got flashed across the six-yard box and we weren’t there is unacceptable. We work on it constantly so players know they should be in that area.

“Having said that, at 2-0 the game should have been over. We conceded a really soft goal which we’ve not done a lot of either. We have been really disciplined in not giving silly goals away. We lost concentration for a moment.

“The second half was OK. We controlled the game but there wasn’t a great deal of rhythm. But I guess we saw the game out.”