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Chris Sutton slams 'daft' Borna Barisic after first-half incident in Rangers v Celtic
Chris Sutton has slammed Rangers defender Borna Barisic for his “daft” tackle in the first half of the Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Celtic on Sunday (30 April).
The left-back was shown a yellow card for a wild challenge on Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley in the 27th minute.
He became the first player to go into the book in what has unsurprisingly been another feisty encounter between the two clubs.
“It’s a daft challenge from Barisic and of course, he puts himself under pressure now up against Jota,” Sutton said on Viaplay 1 (30 April, 01:59pm). “It’s wild.”
Difficult half ahead
There was of course plenty of hype leading up to this mammoth clash between Scotland’s big two, with the match representing the only real chance for Rangers to get one over their fierce rivals.
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They meet again next month in their final Scottish Premiership clash of the season, but with the Bhoys having already essentially clinched the league title, the only prize left for Beale and Co. is the Scottish Cup.
As always, it won’t be an easy second half for Rangers against Ange Postecoglou’s men, but the players should be inspired by the fact that a cup final awaits them should they come out on top.
And while no one involved in this clash will be looking beyond the next 45 minutes, the winner will take on Inverness in the Scottish Cup final.
No disrespect to Inverness, but they will go into the clash as massive underdogs against either Celtic or Rangers, with the winner of today’s match at Hampden strongly expected to go on and lift the prestigious trophy.
On an individual level, Rangers left-back Barisic definitely has a difficult second half ahead as Jota looks certain to take advantage of the defender’s yellow card.
In other Rangers news, BBC journalist Tom English believes the Gers board have big and painful decisions to make on the futures of two key stars.