Pundit furious with John Lundstram after what he did in Rangers v Celtic in Scottish Cup semi-final
Tam McManus was absolutely furious with John Lundstram after a strong tackle on Celtic ace Kyogo Furuhashi during Rangers Scottish Cup semi-final clash.
Lundstram launched into a tackle on the Japanese striker early on in the game and won the ball cleanly, but also made contact with his opponent on the follow through which led to some anger from Celtic fans.
But McManus took things one step further on his personal Twitter account (30 April), accusing the Ibrox man of intentionally trying to hurt him.
“Lundstram went in to do him there,” he wrote, accompanied with a face palm emoji and a 100 emoji.
The referee awarded a free-kick for the tackle but nothing more, and Kyogo played on without any issue.
Pushing it
Lundstram went in hard there is no doubt about that, and you can make an argument that he was testing the water on how the referee was going to be officiating the game.
But to suggest that he went in with the intention of hurting a fellow professional is dangerous and wrong from McManus.
Kyogo was totally fine after the tackle and a free-kick was given, there was nothing more that needed to happen and the referee did the right thing in that situation.
He won the ball fairly but made an impression that he wasn’t going to be bullied throughout the game, which is exactly what Rangers have been accused of in previous Old Firm games this season.
The truth is nobody except Lundstram knows if there was any intent in the tackle, but you’d have to imagine that if he really wanted to hurt him then he would have.
In other Rangers news, our player ratings for the Scottish Cup semi-final clash against Celtic.