Sportscene duo share verdict on Rangers penalty v Dundee
Richard Foster and James McPake were both in agreement that Rangers should not have been awarded a penalty against Dundee yesterday afternoon [March 20].
The Gers left it late to secure their 2-1 win after a very tough encounter at Dens Park.
Foster claimed “they are both at it” and referee Bobby Madden made the wrong decision.
The pair said on Sportscene [March 20, 7:36pm]: “I’m not sure you can call it a challenge.
“To me both players are doing the exact same thing here. The difference is Morelos lets go of the defender maybe a second before the defender lets go of Morelos. So you see he has a hand full of his shirt.
“He doesn’t pull him back. He doesn’t impede him. They are both at it.
“It’s just a 50/50 and should be no penalty for me.”
McPake added: “I completely agree. There’s a push.
“Both of them are at it, that’s what happens in the box and it should have been a corner.”
Stonewall penalty
It was hardly a 50/50 as Foster claimed. Morelos was engaging with the Dundee defender, yes. It is a contact sport, and the pair were doing their best to protect themselves as the ball came in.
The penalty was awarded for the blatantly obvious shirt pull on the Columbian who could have scored if he had been able to get a proper jump rather than being dragged down.
It didn’t make any difference in the end with James Tavernier firing the ball over the crossbar and the decision from the referee not to send off the Dundee man was probably the right one.
As much as Morelos looked like scoring, he still had a lot to do to beat the keeper, so it was hardly a clear and obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Thankfully the Light Blues got themselves over the line in the end thanks to some brilliant substitutions from Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
That win crucially maintained the pressure of league leaders Celtic with the Gers unable to drop any points from now until the end of the season if they want to overtake their rivals.
In other Rangers news, three things learned in Rangers’ 2-1 win v Dundee.