Rangers' narrow victory over St Mirren last month was secured after a clear penalty and red-card incident was missed by the match officials, a mistake now confirmed by the Scottish FA's head of refereeing. Willie Collum stated the decision was wrong and that a longer VAR check would have resulted in a spot-kick for the visitors. This admission comes with Rangers holding second place in the Premiership, having taken 20 points from nine games with a record of six wins, two draws and a single loss.
Collum confirmed a discussion with Premiership managers occurred the day after the match, and they agreed a penalty should have been awarded. The incident happened in the first half of the 1-0 win at Ibrox when St Mirren's Ismail Kabia was brought down in the box by Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez. Referee Don Robertson did not award a penalty, and VAR official Steven McLean did not recommend an on-field review.
"It should have been a longer check without a doubt," Collum said.
Collum clarified that a red card would have been the correct outcome, as the foul denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. The admission comes as Rangers sit second in the league table on 20 points after nine games, four points behind leaders Celtic. The team has scored 13 goals and conceded seven, giving them a goal difference of plus six.
Collum also highlighted another missed penalty in Celtic's 2-0 win over Motherwell, where Callum McGregor's shot struck Lukas Fadinger's arm. He stated VAR was wrong not to recommend a review in that instance too. The refereeing chief separately explained that a Hearts goal against Kilmarnock was correctly disallowed because the ball touched a player's hand in the immediate build-up.
Rangers' form has been strong despite the controversy, with the team unbeaten in its last five league matches. The sequence reads four wins and a draw, most recently a 2-2 result away to Dundee on Saturday 17 October where Badredine Bouanani and Nicolas Raskin scored the Rangers goals. This followed a 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock on 10 October, a match in which Ryan Naderi scored twice. Naderi is the team's top scorer this season with four goals in eight appearances. Bojan Miovski scored the stoppage-time winner against St Mirren, a goal that ultimately secured three points which now look even more valuable given the officiating error.
Background and full detail: scotsman.com
