Rangers vs Motherwell ref watch: Three decisions Steven McLean got horribly wrong at Fir Park
Steven McLean was involved in several questionable decisions during Rangers’ 1-1 draw against 10-man Motherwell at Fir Park on Wednesday.
Danny Rohl has been leading his side in a charge for the Scottish Premiership title since his arrival, and the result will come as a huge disappointment.
Motherwell have made Fir Park a tough place to come to lately, as the Steelmen showed their resilience once again to get a point.
Nicolas Raskin opened up the scoring in the sixth minute with a fine finish, but Motherwell’s second-half dominance paid off when Celtic loanee Stephen Welsh grabbed a late leveller.
After his initial mistake for Lukas Fadinger’s red-card challenge, which was later rectified after an on-field review, referee McLean had three other questionable moments during the clash.
Steven McLean waved away controversial foul on Youssef Chermiti
Rangers may have felt aggrieved when they weren’t awarded a spot kick after a suspected foul on Youssef Chermiti around minute 42.
The striker was bundled over by Motherwell’s Paul McGinn and Elliott Watt, and appeared to have his ankle stepped on in the process.
McLean instantly waved play on and didn’t bother to investigate the matter further, as he then awarded Motherwell a controversial free kick at the other end moments later.
- Raskin was given a yellow card in the 43rd minute
- He placed his hand on the back of Fadinger, who went over far too easily
Chermiti was still seen limping minutes after the incident, and was not in agony for no reason.
- Read more: Nicolas Raskin amazing, Youssef Chermiti has shocker – Rangers player ratings vs Motherwell
McLean kept falling for Callum Slattery’s first-half diving antics
In the first half alone, Callum Slattery was fouled on three occasions. After the Steelmen went 1-0 behind through Raskin’s early goal, they were trying to open up Rangers’ defence in several ways.
One way they were trying to score was by tricking McLean into falling for Slattery’s consistent diving. The left-winger was constantly looking to win fouls for set-piece scenarios, and it seemed to work every time.
One controversial moment was when Rangers’ Mohamed Diomande picked up a yellow card for fouling the Englishman from shooting distance outside the box. But on replay, it just looked like the Motherwell star threw himself into Diomande.
Slattery averages 3.74 fouls won per match, and McLean should have done his homework on this before the game.
- Read more: Chris Sutton stunned by what he saw Mohamed Diomande do vs Motherwell: ‘It’s brilliant, exceptional’
Slattery then ironically deserved penalty in second half
Rangers players may have said something to McLean at halftime after his multiple mistakes regarding Slattery’s earlier dives in the game.
That’s because in the second half, the Steelmen looked like they could have had a penalty when Slattery went down under a challenge from Ryan Naderi.
The Rangers striker was introduced to play just minutes before the incident, and may have been fortunate not to have given away a penalty, if it wasn’t for McLean’s misjudgment.
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