Scott Allan understands Rangers controversy vs Livingston, admits it was wrong
Sportscene pundit Scott Allan understands why referee Ryan Lee didn’t award Rangers a foul on Mikey Moore in the final minutes of their draw to Livingston on Sunday.
Rangers‘ Scottish Premiership title bid took a huge dent on Sunday afternoon, as Danny Rohl‘s side could only draw 2-2 away at bottom-placed Livingston.
Brooklyn Kabongolo fired the Lions into a 14th-minute lead, before Lewis Smith doubled their advantage on 56 minutes, leaving Gers staring down the barrel at one of their most embarrassing defeats in recent memory.
However, Cristian Montano’s red card on the hour mark proved to be a watershed moment, as Emmanuel Fernandez got one back on 81 minutes, before Mikey Moore rescued a point with two minutes to play.
What did Scott Allan say about Mikey Moore incident?
However, that isn’t where the talking points ended from Sunday’s game, with one major one still to arrive.
It involved Moore again, and this time it centred around whether or not the Rangers forward should’ve been awarded a penalty or not, and whether Livingston should’ve been reduced to nine men.
Deep into added time at the end of the game, Moore found himself with the ball at his feet on the edge of the Livingston box, and was shaping as if he was about to shoot when Cameron Kerr made contact with Moore’s left leg.
The initial contact did occur just outside the box, but there are question marks over whether the contact carried on into the penalty area enough to justify awarding Rangers a penalty.
Either way, the referee didn’t even award a foul on Moore, which, upon watching replays of the incident, it’s clear that this was a mistake, and it was a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity, so Gers have a very strong case for a red being shown here.
However, speaking via BBC Sportscene, Allan, whilst in agreement that it was a foul and Livingston should’ve been reduced to nine, can understand why the referee didn’t give the decision.
“For me, I think it is a sending off. Mikey Moore, you can see, has planted his foot and he’s just going to punch that with his right foot and get a shot on target,” Allan said.
“I don’t think, looking at the body shape of the Livingston player, that he’s going to block that. Mikey Moore is about to strike it, yes, it’s outside the box, so for me, it should be a free-kick and a red card.
“But at the time, why I think the referee doesn’t give the decision, is because of the traction of the ball.
“From where the referee’s view is, I think that he thinks Cameron Kerr has got a touch on it with his left foot and has took the ball away.”
- Read more: Mikey Moore leaves Kevin Thomson ‘scratching his head’ over second-half moment in Rangers draw
Moore was one of few Rangers bright sparks against Livingston
There were few Rangers players that could hold their heads high regarding their performance on Sunday at the final whistle, but Moore was one of them.
Indeed, the 18-year-old did everything he could to try and drag Gers out of the mess they put themselves in, and could’ve had a couple of goals to his name on a different day.
The Tottenham loanee created a number of chances for his teammates too on top of taking his headed goal very well, and should’ve won Gers the chance to win the game at the end with the aforementioned foul that wasn’t given.
He, if Gers are to win the league this season, is going to be one of the very big reasons why.
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