George Overhill

Sat 22 October 2022 20:37, UK

Morgan Boyes’ red card for Livingston against Rangers was a crucial turning point in the game according to Shelley Kerr and Michael Stewart.

The visiting defender was initially shown a yellow by David Munro for a studs up challenge on Alfredo Morelos in the second half, but after consulting the pitch-side monitor he upgraded it to a red in the first key involvement of VAR in a SPFL game at Ibrox.

The Light Blues were struggling to break down a stubborn defence prior to that as they looked to come back from an early deficit thanks to Joel Nouble, but eventually pulled the game level at the end of 90 minutes through John Lundstram, who missed a glorious chance to snatch the points deep into stoppage time.

Speaking live on BBC Sportscene on Saturday evening (22 October, 8.08pm) Kerr said: “It was the correct decision, and David Martindale has come out and said the same thing.

“It looked a bad challenge at the time. I had to watch it two or three times but he catches him higher up on the shins so for me I think it’s the right decision.”

Stewart then added: “You could see that he catches him and he rolls his ankle a little bit. It’s absolutely the right decision, VAR got it spot on, but it’s also one where I don’t think you can slaughter the referee in not getting it.

“It’s not a terrible decision for him to have flashed a yellow, but certainly when you watch the replays it’s the right call for him to be red carded.

“I think Livingston were in a comfortable position of defending the lead they had… and it definitely changed the momentum in the game.”

Rough

That it took Livi to be reduced to 10 men before Giovanni van Bronckorst’s side were able to break through was a poor reflection on what is currently a beleaguered Bears side.

Then, for them to drop points after failing to make the extra man count despite over 70 crosses on the day left the home crowd booing the players off the pitch once again.

Celtic had come out on top of a seven-goal game against Hearts earlier in the afternoon so the draw opens the gap at the top of the league up to four points.

The manager is under major pressure now, as not only is this team losing badly to the top European sides in the Champions League, and struggling to dispatch lower league opposition in the League Cup, they are now losing ground on their rivals in the title race.

There is little to be positive about at the moment, and when even Antonio Colak is failing to find the net it is hard to see where the cutting edge is going to come from.

The introduction of VAR wasn’t controversial at Ibrox and it was necessary to provide a helping hand, but Rangers cannot be relying on that in games they should already be able to win.

In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton couldn’t hide his glee as Lundstram missed a “sitter” at the death.