Rangers v FCSB referee apologises after incident during 4-0 Ibrox win
Referee Marco Di Bello apologised to FCSB manager Elias Charalambous for what he did after Jack Butland's error for Rangers on Thursday (24 October).
David Edgar posted on X (24 October) after the Gers' 4-0 Europa League win over the Romanian side, with Charalambous sharing in his press conference that Di Bello had addressed him at half-time.
The error in question saw Butland dispossessed by David Miculescu in his own box within two minutes of kick-off, but Di Bello signalled for a Gers free-kick after the forward slotted the ball into an empty net.
Di Bello told Charalambous that he should have deferred his decision to VAR in order for a second look at the decision, but the FCSB manager did admit he had "zero excuses" for the eventual 4-0 result.
Rangers and Jack Butland get lucky with FCSB controversy
From the second minute onwards, it was a perfect evening for the Gers – keeping a clean sheet and returning to winning ways in emphatic fashion with a display that Philippe Clement will be delighted with.
However, things could have all been so, so different had the referee not been so quick to award a free-kick Rangers' way immediately after Miculescu's challenge on Butland, and instead given a goal to FCSB.
In the wake of a dismal 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock, going 1-0 down once more – inside two minutes of a high-pressure European home game – would have created an unbelievably tense atmosphere at Ibrox.
A mood which was celebratory by the end of the match could instead have been sour towards both Butland and Clement, doing the under-fire Light Blues boss no favours whatsoever.
The Gers' overall performance leaves plenty of positives for Clement to take away from Ibrox, but he'll be keen to stress to Butland that his early mishap is the kind of mistake which gets a manager sacked.
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