Alex Rae mocks Celtic fans on Twitter over Rangers conspiracy claims in Old Firm clash
Alex Rae appears to have mocked Celtic fans on Twitter after Rangers managed a 2-2 draw against their league leaders in the Scottish Premiership at Ibrox on Monday (2 January).
Celtic fans and several pundits such as Chris Sutton suggested, directly or indirectly, that there is a conspiracy behind why Celtic were not allowed a penalty when the ball appeared to strike the hand of Connor Goldson in the second half.
Referee John Beaton waved it away and it turned out to be the correct decision. Willie Collum checked the incident in the VAR room and there was no penalty awarded.
Amid catcalls of conspiracy shouts, Rae has taken to Twitter and posted a two-word message – “conspiracy conspiracy” using VAR as a hashtag.
Right decision
That’s the beauty of the Old Firm derby as controversial incidents are being discussed at greater lengths and both sets of fans get involved.
According to the IFAB laws, the referee was absolutely right to not award the penalty to Celtic, and definitely, there was no conspiracy involved.
Yes, it did hit the arms of Goldson off Carl Starfelt’s shot, but he could have done nothing here to avoid it. The referee felt that Goldson’s hand was in a natural position because it was a reflex movement from him, and failing to do so would have hit him in the face.
It’s common sense that rules should be judged based on their own merits, and in this case, giving a penalty to Celtic would have a great injustice.
Celtic took an early lead after a poor error from Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier combined, but the Gers showed great fighting spirit to come back into the game and take a 2-1 lead.
However, the Scottish champions pulled one back towards the end to make it an engrossing encounter. Rangers still trail Celtic by nine points but the Bears can take plenty of positives from this game.
In other Rangers news, BBC pundit says star man made “cardinal sin” error in draw v Celtic.