Rangers lucky not to concede ‘clear penalty’ says Hibernian boss Shaun Maloney
Hibernian manager Shaun Maloney was incensed to see his side not awarded a penalty against Rangers on Wednesday as the Gers went on to win 2-0.
James Tavernier had already given the Light Blues the lead from the spot before Calvin Bassey put a challenge in on Hibs centre-half Ryan Porteous.
Maloney was insistent it should have been a penalty but referee Nick Walsh gave the decision the other way.
“I’ve looked at it back and it looks clear when Porteous was fouled but we didn’t get it,” Maloney said after the game, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“We don’t have VAR and our refs are part-time but it was a clear penalty. I feel sorry for them, but it’s a decision we didn’t get. We move on.”
Scoring that penalty, had it been given, would have tied the game at 1-1 but instead, Alfredo Morelos doubled the Gers’ lead as they went on to win 2-0 at Ibrox.
Not the only one
It wasn’t the first controversial penalty call of the night even as Ryan Kent went over in the box to earn the spot-kick that Tavernier dispatched.
It looked however like Hibs defender Paul McGinn got some of the ball as he slid to challenge the English winger but Walsh was quick to point to the spot.
Porteous though doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on with the second decision as he and Bassey were doing equal amounts of WWE wrestling in the box at a corner.
With incidents like this, referees can’t give penalties if there are offenders on both sides, but you can understand Maloney’s frustration given the questionable decision early on.
It might not have changed much though as Rangers looked very strong as they kept up with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
In other Rangers news, we think this Ibrox-linked striker is a must-buy for Giovanni van Bronckhorst and he is available right now.