Monday 23 October 2017 15:51, UK
Brendan Rodgers revealed assistant referee Frank Connor came looking for him to apologise for the penalty Hibernian were awarded in the Hoops' 4-2 League Cup semi-final win on Saturday.
The holders were cruising at Hampden Park through a Mikael Lustig double when referee Kevin Clancy, following a word with Connor, pointed to the spot after Dedryck Boyata had nicked the ball away from Martin Boyle inside the box.
Anthony Stokes gave the Easter Road side a lifeline by scoring the penalty but the champions came back with a Moussa Dembele double to set up a final meeting next month with Motherwell, who beat Rangers 2-0 in a bruising encounter on Sunday.
Asked about the officiating over the weekend, Rodgers said: "Over the two games I would be disappointed.
"The only thing I would say is the young linesman came in after the game and apologised so that takes courage to do that.
"He was looking for me but I was at my press conference so I didn't get the chance to speak to him but he came in to apologise and said to Dedryck Boyata that he made a mistake.
"That takes a lot for someone to do that.
"Thankfully it didn't cost us but he made a mistake and owned up to it and thankfully we had a great reaction and saw the game out."
Rodgers did feel that the standard of officiating at both semi-finals had been poor and said he understood Pedro Caixinha's frustration.
He said: "I could see why Pedro was probably annoyed.
"There was a couple of incidents there that went unpunished. You maybe would've got away with that in the '80s, but certainly not now. It certainly shouldn't have been the case.
"But, you've got to give credit. The boy (Louis) Moult scores his goals. First one, read it well in the box and his second was a brilliant finish.
"It'll be a great final and obviously delighted for Motherwell to get through because they've started the season very well."
