Michael Stewart wide of the mark with ‘theatrical’ assessment of Connor Goldson incident v Aberdeen
Michael Stewart has hit out at Connor Goldson for the way he went down to win a penalty in Rangers’ 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie in a bizarre dig at the defender.
The former Scotland midfielder claimed the way Goldson threw himself to the ground was theatrical and that the pull on his shirt would not have been enough to bring him down.
It was clutching at straws for Stewart after the defender won a cut-and-dry penalty after his shirt was blatantly pulled while trying to get on the end of a corner late in the game.
Stewart was analysing the game for BBC Sportscene [26 November, 18:00] as he insisted: “The pull doesn’t send Connor Goldson down, that’s theatrical, that has to be said. The VAR officials, we’re led to believe that not every pull on the jersey constitutes a penalty kick, that’s borderline for me.
“As soon as you see the jersey come away from the body like that, you’re running a major risk of giving a penalty kick away. It’s just lazy defending.”
When Goldson is attempting to get a run on the defender to get himself into a position where he will be able to challenge for the ball and possibly score an equaliser for his side, he’s been held back by his shirt and stopped from making that run.
Regardless of how aggressive the pull was or for how long it lasted, it was a pull that impeded his run and possibly prevented him from scoring. That would be given as a penalty in the majority of games across the world, so Stewart’s accusations have landed wide of the mark.
While Goldson might go to ground easily, the modern era of football has proven that if you don’t go to ground after being fouled you won’t get the decision. It was more action out of necessity than any intention to kid the referee, he was fouled so he made that clear.
The Aberdeen defender knew what he’d done with a handful of his opponent’s shirt, and whether it was a soft call or not, Goldson allowed his team to score an important equaliser.
In other Rangers news, Stewart also gave his verdict on another controversial Gers call.