Antonio Colak not given Rangers penalty despite VAR, commentators left baffled
Tom Miller and Gordon Smith were left baffled as VAR didn’t step in to award Rangers an early penalty for a foul on Antonio Colak against Livingston.
The Croatian striker nodded narrowly wide off one of the home side’s 73 crosses at Ibrox on Saturday (22 October) as he struggled to escape the attentions of Livi defender Jack Fitzwater, and despite it drawing few complaints at the time it became clear on later replays that it was a shirt pull that was impeding him.
It was the first SPFL game featuring Rangers where the video assistant was present, and Greg Aitken did step in later to advise David Munro to reconsider his booking of Morgan Boyes for a foul on Alfredo Morelos, but not for the earlier one, on a frustrating day that ended with a drab 1-1 scoreline.
Reacting live at half time on the Rangers TV match coverage on Saturday afternoon (22 October, 3.57pm) Smith said: “He couldn’t get past the defender to get his header in there, but that was a good ball in, Ryan Kent put in a couple of really good crosses in that first half, but you see he’s actually being fouled.”
Miller added: “You see the tug of the shirt?”
Smith went on: “His shirt’s getting tugged there, is that maybe a case for VAR?”
Miller then asked: “Has there been a power cut between here and Clydesdale House where they’re not actually seeing the same pictures that we’re watching?”
Paper over the cracks
It would have been on the softer side, and would have no doubt had the club’s rivals crying out at the Gers getting a league penalty at Ibrox again, but it was definitely in the ‘seen them given’ category.
Had it been awarded and James Tavernier put the home side ahead in the first couple of minutes it would have put a different perspective on the match.
As it was the visitors got the benefit of that boost when they went ahead in just the fourth minute via a neat finish from Joel Nouble, and the under-pressure Light Blues felt it for the rest of normal time.
John Lundstram eventually volleyed the Bears level at the start of added time after the visitors had been reduced to 10 men, but missed an even later chance to be the hero with the last action of the game.
Arguably either the second Lundstram chance or the potential Colak penalty would have only kicked the can down the road, since facts need to be faced about things not working right now.
Whether that is Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s fault, or the players’, or both, is difficult to fully discern but it is likely to be the former that pays for it either way.
Rangers would have been lucky to take all three points with the way the game went, and Wednesday night against Dundee (19 October) proved that an early goal doesn’t even necessarily mean a comfortable procession anyway at the moment.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton cut in to mock Kenny Miller on BT Sport over recent struggles at Ibrox.