Dessers accused of cheating as Don Robertson misses Rangers incident v Hibs
Cyriel Dessers has been accused of trying to deceive referee Don Robertson after Rangers’ 2-0 defeat to Hibernian at Ibrox on Saturday.
Rangers have now lost five home games in a row for the first time in history, thanks to goals in each half by Dylan Levitt and Martin Boyle.
Not long after going two goals behind, the Light Blues thought they should have had a penalty as they applied pressure on Hibs’ defence.
Hamza Igamane’s cross found Danilo, who cushioned the ball down into the danger zone to 30-year-old Dessers, who’d squandered multiple chances to get on the scoresheet earlier in the game.
However, instead of being able to nod the ball into the Hibs net to grab what could have been a consolation goal, he went flying down to the ground after feeling contact from Jack Iredale.
Dessers avoids punishment in Rangers defeat v Hibs
Dessers looked bemused by Robertson’s failure to give Rangers a penalty as the centre-forward was berated by Iredale and Rocky Bushiri, seemingly for making the most of what was light contact.
After seeing footage of the incident on BBC Sportscene, former PGMOL general manager Keith Hackett agreed it wasn’t a penalty but believes Robertson should have booked Dessers for an act of simulation.
“Looking at the challenge, it is evident that Dessers has gone to ground looking for the award of a penalty kick,” Hackett told Ibrox News.
“The referee decided to take no action and VAR did not intervene.
“Sadly, in these situations, when referees are satisfied that there is no offence to intervene for the award of a penalty kick, this then needs to be the trigger point to yellow card the attacker for an act of simulation.”
Dessers frustration results in poor attempt to cheat
There’s every chance that Dessers went down in the manner that he did out of pure frustration.
The Nigeria striker generated 0.45 xG from his four shots on goal, which is double the attempts that any other player made in the whole Scottish Premiership clash.
| Dessers’ stats v Hibs | |
| Shots (on target) | 4 (1) |
| Big chances missed | 2 |
| Touches in opponent’s box | 5 |
| Duels (duels won) | 8 (3) |
Dessers has been widely criticised by Rangers fans throughout his time in Govan after signing from Cremonese in July 2023.
However, despite the bad reviews, he’s scored 45 times in 101 appearances across all competitions for the Gers, with 23 of those goals coming this season.