Michael Stewart reacts to controversy in Rangers win v Livingston as BBC Sportscene footage emerges
Don Robertson was correct to ignore calls for Livingston to be awarded a penalty against Rangers on Wednesday night, according to Michael Stewart.
In the first half of the Gers’ 1-0 win at Ibrox, Alex Lowry was on the line at a corner kick and the ball made contact with his body before it was collected by goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
After analysing the replays of the incident, Stewart felt as though Robertson’s call was correct, even though the referee may have found it hard to see Lowry through a group of players.
“I think it would have been extremely harsh if this was given as a penalty kick,” said Stewart on BBC Sportscene on Wednesday night [26 January].
“You see him at the back post just coming back in. For me, it comes off his chest back into Allan McGregor’s arms.
“There are a number of angles here. The difficulty for the referee is that he doesn’t see it at all because he’s blocked by a number of players that are between himself and the ball.
“But for me, Alex Lowry on the back post here leans in with his chest and it comes off his chest.
“His arm is not, at any point, in contact with the ball.
“It wasn’t a penalty kick.”
There’s a shock
We’ve heard it all from Stewart over the years – he’s got to be one of the most biased, anti-Rangers pundits in broadcasting.
However, he’s absolutely spot on here and you can see in the image above that Lowry touches the ball with his chest.
Yes, it’s close to his arm but if the ball is making contact with his arm, it’s more where his armpit is.
We’ve seen all the tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorists out on Twitter – mainly those of a green and grey persuasion – in reaction to this incident but even if Robertson did have a better view of it, it simply wasn’t a handball.
The replays are conclusive and if you don’t agree with that, you either have a massive vendetta against Rangers or you just support Celtic.
If Stewart admits that it wasn’t a penalty then that’s where the argument should end because this is a man who’s called for the laws of the game to be changed after stuff that’s happened in Rangers matches.
In other Rangers news, Fabrizio Romano has dropped a major update on the Gers’ pursuit of Andreas Skov Olsen.