Former Celtic man Mark Wilson ‘amazed’ by debate over disallowed Rangers goal in Old Firm derby
Former Celtic defender Mark Wilson has been left “amazed” that a debate has occurred over a controversially disallowed Rangers goal in the Old Firm derby.
The Bhoys ran out 1-0 victors at Ibrox on Sunday (3 September) thanks to Kyogo’s well-taken effort on the stroke of half-time.
But Rangers felt hard done by when Kemar Roofe saw a goal chalked off following a VAR review after Cyriel Dessers was judged to have fouled Gustaf Lagerbielke in the build-up.
Wilson, who won the Scottish Premiership three times during a six-year stay at Celtic Park, feels it was an obvious foul, though.
“I thought it was a foul. I really can’t believe the debate on it. Maybe because the phase of play played out and Rangers got a goal it’s brought a debate on. But when you analyse it really, Lagerbielke is dilly-dallying on the ball and looks in trouble but when he goes to clear the ball, Dessers comes across him and plants his foot and that’s where the foul was and then Dessers nicks the ball,” Wilson told Sky Sports (4 September).
“It’s different if Dessers nicks the ball and Lagerbielke stumbles then but you can clearly see the foul so I’m amazed by the reaction it has got and some people going the other way.
“Rangers fans will feel hard done by. In that stadium with 50k and no away fans it was hard to understand what was going on at the time. When Don Robertson pointed for a free kick the Rangers crowd cheered because they didn’t know what was going on but I thought it was the right decision at the time.”
He would say that…but
A former Celtic player is absolutely convinced that the major incident in the Old Firm that benefitted his former side is convinced it was the right decision is he?
Well colour us shocked at that development!
Still, is he right? Look, there are plenty of things wrong with VAR and its execution and ultimately it can be a tool that sucks the life out of the beautiful game.
But at its core it is there to make sure the right decisions are being made and, unfortunately, it did look like Dessers had committed a foul, even if Lagerbielke is extremely fortunate to have gotten away with his faffing on the ball.
A bigger concern for Rangers and boss Michael Beale is how little Rangers hurt their rivals outside of that incident. A lot of investment has been made on restructuring the forward line during the now shut transfer window and, as yet, they don’t appear too cohesive.
In other Rangers news, Robbie Savage hit back at a Celtic fan over the controversy.