Rangers players unsure how they earned penalty in lucky win says Morton defender
Greenock Morton defender Kirk Broadfoot has claimed that the Rangers players were left unsure why they were given a penalty in their 2-1 Viaplay Cup win on Saturday, 19 August.
The defender was penalised for an apparent shirt pull on Rangers’ Leon Balogun in the penalty area in the second-round match, with the resulting spot-kick being converted by Cyriel Dessers to help send the Gers into the quarter-finals of the cup.
Beale’s side were far from convincing in their win over Championship opposition and Broadfoot has that referee David Dickinson of being desperate to “even it up” having awarded the away side a penalty in the first half.
Speaking after the game with the Daily Record (20 August), the 39-year-old said: “Even the Rangers boys didn’t know what it was for. They were asking if it was handball.
“As soon as he goes up to the screen, it’s a pen. It was inevitable. We knew he was going to try to even it up. Nobody claimed it, he’s not getting the ball. Is this what we’re going to give penalties for now? It’s ridiculous. I’m glad we don’t have VAR in the Championship.”
Still coming together
Whether or not there was a foul to give Michael Beale’s side a penalty on Saturday, the performance from the Ibrox side would not have instilled plenty of confidence into the Rangers fanbase ahead of the rest of the season.
The cup game offered an opportunity for Beale to experiment with some of his new signings as well as players on the fringes of his squad, but the need to substitute the likes of Dessers and Danilo in the second half possibly displayed where the Light Blues are still short of depth.
Luckily, the all-important thing in knock-out competitions is to win football matches and Beale and his squad have managed to navigate their way to the quarter-final of the Viaplay Cup and are now only two-legs away from the Champions League Group Stages.
If this new-look Rangers side can keep finding the supposed strokes of luck to continue winning matches while this squad develops together after so much change in this summer transfer window, they could be on their way to having a successful season.
In other Rangers news, one Gers winger has been gushing over a former Rangers player this week