Rangers v Celtic: Pat Bonner ‘in shock’ as Brendan Rodgers part in disallowed goal shared
Pat Bonner was “in shock” at the contentious decision to rule out a Cyriel Dessers goal in the thrilling 3-3 draw between Rangers and Celtic.
Dessers thought he had levelled Sunday’s (7 April) Old Firm contest at 2-2 after tapping in moments after James Tavernier had made it 2-1 in a game the Gers took time to get into.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland [7 April, 1:19pm], Bonner shared that Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was quickly onto the fourth official.
And in a hugely controversial call, referee John Beaton ruled the goal out after VAR intervened for a Tom Lawrence foul in the build-up.
“I’m in shock. VAR has allowed this game to create another story that will be talked about for the next month or so,” Bonner said.
“Celtic’s players were all adamant. And Brendan Rodgers also went to Willie McCollum, the fourth official.”
John Beaton centre of attention in Rangers v Celtic
The decision to overturn Dessers’ goal came as a massive surprise as nobody spotted anything in the build-up in real time.
However, not for the first time this season and not for the last, VAR intervened almost wanting to spot some sort of issue in order to rule it out.
Quite how much of a part Rodgers had in the decision for the officials to check the goal remains to be seen.
In fairness, the Celtic manager cannot be blamed that much. Philippe Clement would no doubt do the same.
In a game of plenty of talking points, this is undoubtedly the most contentious moment to come out of the contest.
Beaton was always going to have a tough time of things, but thankfully Philippe Clement’s men managed to claim a point come full-time anyway.
In other Rangers news, a “weird” twist has emerged ahead of the Gers’ next fixture.
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