Keith Hackett: Joe Efford lucky not to get red card for Motherwell v Rangers
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive Rangers columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…
Keith Hackett has insisted that Motherwell player Joe Efford was lucky not to see red against Rangers on Sunday afternoon.
The Steelman caught Connor Goldson with his studs after a late lunge and was only punished with a yellow card.
Hackett admitted that VAR would have given the officials a second look and that Efford simply had to get sanctioned.
“The referee is nowhere near it,” he exclusively told Ibrox News.
“This is why the referee needs VAR. I don’t like it, I think he’s actually lucky to get away without a red card, the minimum for that would be a yellow card for reckless.
“He’s a lucky boy because I can justify a red. He can’t come out of that without a sanction, the referee is caught short – this is the type of incident where a second look through VAR would give greater clarity.”
Dangerous.
Efford went flying in late and was reckless and dangerous as he crashed into Goldson after his poor touch.
The officials were nowhere near, and once again made a judgment call that was plain wrong, and it wasn’t the only one in the game.
There are no excuses for throwing away a 2-0 lead against Motherwell, but with VAR, it would have been another three points.
In other Rangers news, this BBC pundit was left ‘screaming’ after major transfer development at Ibrox