Rangers right to be awarded penalty v Aberdeen – Dermot Gallagher
Rangers recovered from an early scare at home to Aberdeen to eventually run out 4-1 winners at Ibrox with the aid of VAR.
Antonio Colak, John Lundstram and James Tavernier had put the Gers 3-1 up after Connor Barron’s opener for the visitors when it looked as if a Dons defender handled the ball in the area.
The on-field officials originally didn’t see the incident but VAR intervened to award the spot-kick which Tavernier surprisingly missed but former FIFA official Dermot Gallagher agreed with the overturning of the decision.
“You can see the guy puts his arm out and I think he actually moves his hand to the ball as well,” Gallagher said on Ref Watch. “It’s almost like he doesn’t expect the ball to bounce up.”
“It does (come off his leg first) but I think the difference is that his arm wasn’t there, his arm has moved towards the ball and that’s what the referee has probably seen on VAR.”
Much-needed
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been under pressure at Ibrox and he really needed a comfortable victory and that is what he got on Saturday against Aberdeen.
It may have started nervously when Barron fired them in front but the way the team reacted to that setback suggests that they are far from beaten and still want to win for the manager.
The penalty was a justified decision and Tavernier will be fuming to have missed the chance to score his second goal of the game and taken him closer to 100 goals for the club.
The Light Blues were fortunate again later in the game as Alfredo Morelos had a goal given onside by the smallest of fractions all proving that VAR is working in the Premiership.
It understandably came with a lot of worries and perhaps criticism but having now seen it in action for multiple games, there have not been any big howlers in any game which means it has done what it was designed to do.
In other Rangers news, this pivotal Ibrox man missed training ahead of Tuesday evening’s (1 November) game against Ajax.