Rangers: Scott Arfield reacts to Alex Gogic incident that left Nicolas Raskin ‘furious’ vs St Mirren
Scott Arfield believes it was the right decision not to award Rangers an early penalty against St. Mirren on Sunday afternoon.
After Hearts’ loss and Celtic’s win on Saturday, Rangers knew they had to pick up all three points at SMISA Stadium.
Danny Rohl’s team started brightly and felt they should have had a penalty in the 12th minute when Nicolas Raskin’s header appeared to hit the arm of defender Alex Gogic.
Referee Steven McLean and VAR waved away Rangers’ protests, and not all that long after, the away fans were celebrating their side’s opener.
Raskin’s teasing cross was tucked home by Tuur Rommens in the 31st minute as Rangers took a 1-0 advantage into halftime.
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Rangers penalty shout gets rejected
Before Rommens gave Rangers the lead, his corner led to penalty appeals from the away team.
Raskin’s header did make contact with the St. Mirren man, but the officials deemed it was nothing doing in Paisley.
Former Rangers midfielder Arfield pointed out that Raskin looked furious, but the right decision was made; ergo, no penalty.
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He said on Sky Sports: “Yeah, it hits his hand, but Gogic can’t do anything about that.
“I know Raskin is absolutely furious with the decision, but he cannot do anything. You cannot expect penalties to be given for stuff like that.”
Many compared it to Dujon Sterling’s handball against Celtic, which was penalised a couple of weeks ago, but the distance and positioning make it clearly different.
Pressure ramps up on Danny Rohl
Rangers headed into this clash six points behind league leaders Hearts and four adrift of rivals Celtic.
After draws with the likes of Celtic, Livingston, and Motherwell in recent weeks, Rangers couldn’t afford any more slip-ups.
Moreover, Hearts’ shock defeat to Kilmarnock on Saturday gave Rangers the chance to close within three points of the league leaders.
With the rain pouring down, the Bears dominated the opening period after a couple of changes, and they will need to continue that after halftime, too.
Raskin has been at the heart of most things yet again, bringing back some of his old Ibrox form possibly at the perfect time as the title race really heats up.
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