Keith Hackett rages at ‘disgraceful’ Rangers v Panathinaikos first-half incident
Ibrox News presents the exclusive opinion of former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee Keith Hackett.
Rangers went in at the break goalless against Panathinaikos after a well-battled first half of their Champions League qualifier at Ibrox on Tuesday.
Russell Martin’s team hosted the Greek outfit at home on 22 July in the second qualifying round of the European competition.
Danilo and Kieran Dowell have started for the Gers against Panathinaikos as Martin made some interesting selections in the starting lineup.
While the side from Athens posed a great threat in G51 during the first half, there was one incident that didn’t please former referee Keith Hackett.
Georgios Vagiannidis dive ‘disgraceful’ in Rangers v Panathinaikos
Georgios Vagiannidis’ dive against the Gers in the opening 45 minutes was “disgraceful”, according to Hackett.
The former Premier League referee was raging after seeing the Panathinaikos right-back take a tumble in the Light Blues’ penalty area despite no contact from John Souttar at Ibrox.
Hackett doesn’t think a yellow card was sufficient for the Greece defender and would like to see him receive a one-match ban.
Speaking exclusively to Ibrox News, the ex-FIFA official said: “This is a disgraceful action by the player to deceive the referee. The referee detected the offence and applied, in law, the appropriate sanction of a yellow card.
“The question one must ask the IFAB, the lawmakers – is a yellow card sufficient sanction and does it act as a deterrent?
“I think not, and the image of the game is tarnished by such actions.
“I would like to see a one-match ban introduced after a retrospective review by a specialist panel.”
Martin needs to make changes at Ibrox v Panathinaikos
Max Aarons hasn’t had the best of games at Ibrox, playing as a left-back, and a change of system should be considered.
Martin has Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers on the bench against Panathinaikos and should look at using them.
| Statistics | Rangers | Panthinaikos |
| Possession | 69 per cent | 31 per cent |
| xG | 0.31 | 1.13 |
| Total shots | 6 | 8 |
| Big chances | 0 | 2 |
Souttar and Nasser Djiga have made some influential blocks at the back, but they arguably need more protection in front of them.
How the second half will unfold in G51 remains to be seen.
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