Rangers: Pundits rage over ‘out of control’ John Lundstram incident at Ibrox v St Johnstone
Alan Hutton and Kevin Thomson launched a scathing attack on “lazy” St Johnstone player Diallang Jaiyesimi after his horror tackle on Rangers midfielder John Lundstram on Wednesday night.
The Gers and manager Philippe Clement followed up their Viaplay Cup success by beating 10-man St Johnstone to move within two points of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic after a 2-0 success on Wednesday (20 December).
However, the Belgian coach was left raging after Lundstram’s injury caused by Jaiyesimi who was deservedly sent off after 33 minutes for a dreadful lunge on the Rangers veteran’s ankle, but controversially VAR had to step in after referee Alan Muir showed a yellow card.
Lundstram was forced off after the challenge and pundits Hutton and Thomson were in total agreement over the incident while speaking on Rangers TV (as quoted by Daily Record, 20 December).
Hutton: “This is an ankle breaker for me. He has taken a bad touch and tried to make up for it, and he has compounded that with a huge error. When you see it again from a different angle he could break his ankle. You are lucky he (Lundstram) got up from it. If his leg was planted solid in the grounds ankle is broken.”
Thomson agreed, adding: “It is almost a lazy challenge. Out of control. I was one that liked to stick my foot in and VAR has rightly turned that to a red.”
Disgraceful
The referee risked losing control during the first half of the Gers’ meeting with St Johnstone after such a dreadful decision from a challenge which only warranted a red card.
It was a disgraceful challenge from Jaiyesimi who could well have ended Lundstram’s career let alone forcing him into a few weeks on the treatment table.
Had Lundstram’s foot been further planted on the pitch, we could have had an incredibly serious and dreadful incident on our hands and Clement was certainly right to be angry after the game given the injury crisis Rangers are steeped in right now.
Clement lost a couple of players to injury during the match, so it was a more physical affair than he would have liked and will now face a further depleted squad available to him v Motherwell before Christmas.
The Gers are right on the cusp of an intriguing Scottish Premiership title battle with Celtic now after cutting their lead at the top to two points but Clement simply cannot afford to lose any more players to injury which could derail his lofty ambitions.
In other Rangers news, a team selection decision made by Clement appeared to backfire against St Johnstone.