Dermot Gallagher cannot believe controversial incident in Rangers v Livingston
Dermot Gallagher believes the first Rangers goal against Livingston should have been ruled out for a foul in the build-up by defender Connor Goldson.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday (5 February), the former Premier League referee said the 31-year-old went “very high” with his boot and caught David Carson before Fabio Silva swept the ball home in the 3-0 victory.
He added that the referee would have ruled the goal out had he seen the incident as it was a “clear foul” by the English centre-back on the midfielder at Ibrox.
“Goldson goes very high with his boot, catches him in the thigh,” said Gallagher. “If the referee sees that he’s going to give a foul, he just doesn’t pick it up.”
“If you see that anywhere else on the pitch, it’s going to be a foul, even a yellow card,” added Jay Bothroyd.
“Once you see it, you can’t miss it,” replied Gallagher. “It’s a clear foul.”
Rangers got away with one against Livingston
There isn’t much doubt that it should have been a foul against Goldson as he was out of control and did catch Carson as he went for the ball.
There wasn’t anything malicious about it, but that is certainly the type of decision you would be expecting to go your way if you were the defending team.
It’s surprising to see that VAR didn’t actually decide to intervene as they allowed the goal to be given despite checking the incident.
The most important thing for the Gers, though, was that Silva got up and running with his first goal for the club as he set his side on the way towards three points.
The 21-year-old Portuguese is going to have to provide a big contribution over the next few months as he will be asked to play a lot of minutes in the Light Blues’ bid for more trophies following the injuries picked up by some of the other attacking players.
In other Rangers news, a journalist has mooted a Gers move for a former Premier League forward after he’s torn up his contract.
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