Ally McCoist in disbelief at Rangers shambles he witnessed up close last night
Ally McCoist was “baffled” by the VAR review for a penalty as Rangers beat OGC Nice 4-1 in the Europa League.
The Allianz Riviera hosted the Gers on 28 November, with goals from Vaclav Cerny, Mohamed Diomande and Hamza Igamane in the first half, before the latter struck again early in the second on a memorable night.
In the opening 45 minutes, the Ligue 1 outfit also could’ve potentially been handed a spot kick after Ricardo de Burgos was called to the screen to look at multiple incidents, one of them being Connor Barron taking the ball away from one of Nice’s attackers in the box.
The referee looked at three separate incidents before eventually coming to the conclusion that none deserved a foul, and speaking during commentary on TNT Sports [28 November], McCoist wasn’t too pleased by what unfolded.
“That’s completely baffled me,” he said. “It came up they’re checking penalty for a potential handball; then they looked at the Barron challenge. With the greatest of respects, that was a bit of a shambles.”
Rangers made a statement against OGC Nice
Philippe Clement will unarguably be a happy man after what the Light Blues did in France, relieving some of the pressure the head coach has been under this season.
The Bears have struggled to perform well in the current campaign, and the Belgian manager brought the best out of his team at the Allianz Riviera.
Rangers’ prospects in the Scottish Premiership have starkly contrasted their European exploits, with the Gers sitting third in the league table, 11 points behind table-toppers Celtic.
While the Nice romp is a significant result, the real question is whether the Light Blues can consistently start to produce similar displays in the coming weeks.
Clement will need his team to produce something similar in the Old Firm derby on 15 December in the Scottish League Cup final, for example.
The Bears have set themselves up well in the Europa League, but they’ll undoubtedly need to get some points from their games against Tottenham and Manchester United to secure a spot in the competition knockout rounds.
It remains to be seen whether what happened in France was just a one-off from the Light Blues.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues could be set for a boost with the SPFL after developments behind the scenes at Ibrox.
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.