{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Keith Hackett: John Beaton gets top marks after Joe Aribo incident in Rangers draw v Celtic
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 John Beaton will be getting top marks for his performance in Rangers draw against Celtic.
The ex-FIFA official was thrilled as Joe Aribo’s dive was spotted clearly and not given as a penalty at Parkhead.
Aribo was not booked for the incident, and Hackett admitted that was the right decision in these high-intensity derbies.
“I just think that position, look where the referee is, he has a great view,” he exclusively told Ibrox News.
“He couldn’t have been better placed, good piece of refereeing. I think when a referee is in proximity to the players, we’ve seen throughout, it gives great credibility to their decision making, and the players trust the match officials.
Subscribe to Football Insider TV now
“Spirit of the game and in the derby, you want to keep your cards in your pocket, I’m not going to be critical of that. If I was assessing him, he’d be getting top marks.”
You could see in the clip on Sunday’s BBC Sportscene that it was not a penalty, but we’re not sure whether it was a dive.
Aribo was likely anticipating contact but went down far too easily unfortunately and nothing came of it.
Beaton wasn’t exactly helped by his linesmen in this one either, with some of their decisions shocking to say the least.
We have seen officials get too card happy in this fixture over the years, so it was a nice change to get the opposite of that this season.
In other Rangers news, One 25-year-old could now be deemed as surplus to requirements at Ibrox this season