Rangers v Celtic: Dermot Gallagher reacts live on Sky Sports to contentious Old Firm decisions
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has given his verdict on each of the contentious issues in the Rangers versus Celtic match.
The Old Firm rivals played out an action-packed 3-3 draw at Ibrox on Sunday (7 April) to leave the Scottish Premiership title race wide open.
Referee John Beaton had plenty of big calls to make, with two pens awarded a goal ruled out and one player maybe fortunate to avoid a red card.
Reacting first to the decision to award a penalty for James Tavernier’s handball, Gallagher told Sky Sports News [8 April, 11:52am]: “It was a good intervention.
“The referee can’t see it on the field. You can see [Tavernier] lifts his arm up here and there’s no doubt he puts his arm up to the ball.”
On the Alistair Johnston incident in which he caught Fabio Silva in the face, Gallagher said: “This was a really interesting situation. Has he been punched in the face? I think Johnston just puts his arm up to block him off.”
Gallagher felt Beaton was correct to award a penalty for the foul on Silva, as well as not awarding Johnston a second yellow, but he questioned if Cyriel Dessers’ goal should have been ruled out.
“There’s a lot of time to reset but the referee decides it’s a foul,” he said. “There’s no doubt it’s a foul, but is it part of the attacking phase?
“Beaton’s sent to the screen for the third time. The question then is if it’s re-refereeing?”
John Beaton has big calls to make in Rangers v Celtic
Beaton always knew he would be chucked in at the deep end and so it proved with a number of big calls to make at Ibrox.
It was widely accepted at the time that Dessers’ goal should have been ruled out due to a foul in the build-up.
However, as Gallagher points out, there was a big gap between that foul and Dessers putting the ball in the back of the net.
Exactly how long is play allowed to continue before it is pulled back? Would it have been pulled back had the attack lasted another 10 seconds, say?
Given the fact that Rabbi Matondo scored a very late equaliser to rescue a point, that decision is not being discussed as much as it perhaps would have been.
Ultimately, it is one point apiece and there is still one more Old Firm to come. Any officials in the running for that game may want to book some annual leave ahead of time.
In other Rangers news, a Gers player was likened to Cristiano Ronaldo by a BBC Sport pundit after what he did against Celtic.
For more Rangers news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.