David Edgar reacts to Rangers penalty controversy v Celtic
David Edgar has slammed a decision not to award Rangers a penalty in the Old Firm derby as Alistair Johnston seemed to slap the ball out of play.
While grappling with Abdallah Sima, Johnston created one of the most controversial moments between the Gers and Celtic as he looked to handle the ball inside the penalty area.
Despite a VAR check for the incident, Rangers were not awarded a penalty and the Hearts & Hand podcast founder voiced his displeasure with the decision before it was revealed he was offside.
“Stonewall penalty denied. Frustrating is putting it mildly,” Edgar posted via Twitter on Saturday (30 December).
A monumental moment
Failing to award a pretty standard penalty could change the course of a tightly fought affair at Celtic Park between the Old Firm rivals.
In addition to this, Johnston had already been cautioned for a challenge on Sima and had been walking a wire on the right wing. In this situation, the full-back probably would not have been sent for an early shower but he was definitely at risk.
With the help of VAR, it is inexcusable that such a moment can be overlooked. But it is even worse that the incident was watched over and over again, without concluding that Johnston handled the ball in his own penalty area.
Paulo Bernardo opened the scoring and Sima was judged to be at fault, with a poor header into the box from a corner kick aimed towards the near post that the Senegalese was guarding.
The Brighton & Hove Albion loanee could have made up for his mistake by winning a penalty, especially with James Tavernier likely to dispatch any spot-kick past Joe Hart. But Rangers were forced into a one-goal deficit at the half-time break, spurning several chances and feeling cheated out of a penalty kick.
In other Rangers news, Sky Sports shared what wowed Fabio Silva when he visited Auchenhowie before his confirmed Ibrox transfer.