Chris Sutton takes swipe at Ross McCausland after Rangers controversy v Livingston
Chris Sutton has taken a swipe at Ross McCausland after he controversially won a penalty in the first half of Rangers’ clash with Livingston on Sunday 12 November.
The Light Blues headed into the break 1-0 up at the Tony Macaroni Arena thanks to Cyriel Dessers’ strike but should have added to their lead when James Tavernier skewed his penalty wide of the post early in the half.
Rangers had won the spot-kick after McCausland went down under a challenge from Shamal George inside the penalty area, but Sutton was seemingly not convinced that there was enough contact for the referee to award a penalty.
Taking to Twitter (12 November) immediately after the penalty decision, he said: “Any contenders for the Simulation Game tonight on BBC606 5 Live Sport tonight? Who has committed this week’s biggest dive?” The tweet was partnered with a GIF of a woman diving into the ocean.
Sutton regularly does this for BBC Radio 5 Live but the timing of it was obviously done in reaction to McCausland going down in the box at Livi.
Some contact
Even the most diehard of Rangers supporters will admit that McCausland went down incredibly easy under the challenge from George in the first half, with the Light Blues winger making sure he maximised the contact he received in the challenge.
The 20-year-old was already on his way down before the Livingston stopper had even touched him, but McCausland made sure to use his body well to ensure that the decision could not be overturned by the VAR.
In what was his first start for Rangers, McCausland was a real livewire in the first half on the right of Philippe Clement’s attack and seemed to strike fear into the Livingston defence every time he got the ball at his feet and ran towards the goal.
Defensively he worked hard and managed to create a couple of opportunities for his teammates, even if Tavernier did ultimately spurn the resulting penalty as he smashed it well wide of George’s post to waste a golden chance to break the deadlock.
But it’s safe to say McCausland has joined Todd Cantwell on Sutton’s list of Rangers players who go down far too easily after his antics in the first half on Sunday.
In other Rangers news, Ryan Jack expects talks to begin over his Ibrox future at the beginning of 2024