Rangers: Fabio Silva slammed live on BBC for ‘bizarre’ moment in 3-3 draw vs Celtic at Ibrox
Peter Grant slammed what he saw Rangers forward Fabio Silva do in the build-up to the second Celtic goal in Sunday’s (7 April) 3-3 draw.
The Gers played out a six-goal thriller at Ibrox in a game they trailed 2-0 after just 34 minutes, with Matt O’Riley netting the second via a penalty.
Referee John Beaton pointed to the spot for a handball against James Tavernier, but Grant believes the initial cross could have been prevented.
Silva was seen ducking out the way of a pass out wide that was swung into the box, flicked on and handled by Gers skipper Tavernier.
Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sportscene [7 April], Grant said: “This is bizarre. Watch Fabio Silva – he ducks out.
“It’s a great ball in. To be fair, I can’t understand why a centre-half has gone up. You’ve got to put your head in there and it’s rightly a penalty.”
Rangers v Celtic packed full of drama
All the focus on this particular incident was on Tavernier, who it must be said had his arm in an unnatural position and therefore can have few complaints.
Not many would have spotted Silva’s part in the goal, though, and Grant is right to single out the Wolves loanee on this occasion as he did not cover himself in glory.
A simple pass out to the right-hand side could have been cut out. Silva instead appeared to duck, allowing it to find its target and we all know what happened next.
In fairness to Silva, he went on to win the Gers a contentious penalty – even if Chris Sutton felt it was the wrong decision – so he made amends of sorts.
However, had this game been settled by the O’Riley penalty, more would have been made of this poor piece of defending from Silva.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton was shocked at what he saw a Celtic player do in the match at Ibrox.
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