Astana defender angered by Griffiths incident

Astana defender Igor Shitov is still aggrieved by Leigh Griffiths after Celtic’s first-leg clash with the Kazakhstan side last week.

The aftermath of the game was dominated by the incident which looked nothing more than a push.

Footage of the incident was posted on Astana’s official twitter account, and they even went as far as appealing to UEFA for retrospective action and Griffiths to be banned.

However, it appeared to show the Scotland international pushing Shitov to the ground, rather hitting him as he believes – which has led to a bit of bad blood between the two sides.

Minutes after the incident the 25-year-old striker, who scored 40 goals for the Hoops last season, fired home from just inside the box after some tenacious pressing from Patrick Roberts.

Speaking about the incident to the Daily Mail in Glasgow Airport, Shitov said:

Griffiths hit me and what happened should have been a red card. He should be suspended for this match.

The referee did not see it properly because he only gave a yellow card. I told the referee at the time but he made his decision.

Griffiths was very lucky to stay on the pitch and we were unlucky because he scored his goal a few minutes later.

Brendan Rodgers’ side will look to complete the job on Wednesday night and progress to the play-off round of the Champions League once again.

An away goal from Griffiths has given the Hoops an advantage going into the second-leg and a win will secure European football until Christmas.