Journalist fires back at Chris Sutton amid major Rangers controversy claim v Celtic
Journalist Jonny McFarlane has hit back at Chris Sutton over the remark on VAR as Rangers managed a 2-2 draw against Celtic at Ibrox on Monday (3 January).
Sutton was far from happy with the decision [2 January] to not award Celtic a penalty after a potential handball from Conor Goldson and was adamant that he was right about his take on the decision.
However, the Rangers Review journalist has fired back on Twitter (3 January) by saying the handball has been cleared up conclusively by the IFAB laws, and even Sutton must “admit” that there was no “conspiracy” involved.
On 2 January, Sutton wrote that “would Willie Collum in the VAR hut have awarded a penalty had a Celtic player handled the ball like Goldson?” hinting at conspiracy over the VAR decision.
“Except the ‘handball’ has been cleared up conclusively by the IFAB laws. I’m sure you will hold your hands up and admit it wasn’t a penalty, let alone a conspiracy, and you got it wrong!,” wrote McFarlane on Twitter.
Correct decision
The rule appears to show that referee John Beaton was correct not to award Celtic a penalty during the second half of the Scottish Premiership game.
Sutton wanted VAR to get involved and overturn Beaton’s initial decision, but Willie Collum supported the referee in the middle.
Celtic were convinced that they should have got a spot kick when Carl Starfelt’s shot had struck the hand of Goldson, but Beaton waved it away.
The rule book suggests that he was right as Goldson’s hand was in a natural position because it’s a reflex movement, otherwise, it would have struck his face.
The decision sparked controversy, and Collum backed the referee in the middle after checking the incident again in the VAR room.
The referee should judge each situation based on its merit, and it was very clear that it was a reflex movement from Goldson and not a deliberate handball.
It was a strong second-half performance from the Gers at Ibrox, but the gap remains at nine points between the two sides at the top.
In other Rangers news, BBC pundit says star man made “cardinal sin” error in draw v Celtic.