Mark Hateley suggests John Lundstram lucky not to see red in Rangers v Frankfurt
Rangers midfielder John Lundstram can count himself lucky a different referee wasn’t in charge of the Europa League final according to Mark Hateley.
The influential midfielder found himself in trouble after a high boot caught Frankfurt midfielder Sebastian Rode, which opened up a cut and needed treatment on the pitch.
But the former Sheffield United man didn’t even get a yellow card for the challenge, and BBC pundit Hateley told the BBC Sportsound [May 18, 20:11] that another referee could have seen it very differently and potentially sent him off.
“It’s happened so early in the game, I wonder if the referee has taken that into consideration,” he said.
“If it had happened late in the first half, early in the second half, would we have had the same outcome? A different referee might have seen it completely differently.”
Lucky?
It was definitely a rough challenge early on, but a red card would be mighty harsh. Lundstram made a genuine attempt at the ball and pulled his boot away when he missed it, catching Rode with just a stud.
Had a red card been given it would have been hard to argue with, but credit must go to the referee for not seeing the blood drawn and immediately drawing for a card based on the outcome.
Lundstram was incredibly eager to make an impression and got carried away with a rash early tackle, and the fact he got no card at all was definitely strange.
A different referee could well have seen the incident differently and changed the entire game by dishing out an early red, so thankfully he didn’t do that.
He can count his lucky stars that a red wasn’t shown, but Frankfurt had every right to be furious about no punishment at all.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: 3/10 stinker for key man, MOTM amazing 10/10 – Rangers player ratings v Frankfurters player ratings v Frankfurt