There were talking points aplenty when Aberdeen collided with Rangers in Mount Florida on Viaplay Cup semi-final action - it wasn't going to be any other way, was it?
It's the Ibrox side who will face Celtic in the final after coming from behind to win 2-1. Michael Beale's side were unfortunate not to be ahead early doors when Fashion Sakala hit the post but Bojan Miovski was soon to be up the early end scoring, although his Aberdeen opener was ruled out for offside. He found himself in a similar position before the half ended but his opponents went to sleep as Matty Kennedy arrived from deep to set him up for an eventual opener.
Ryan Jack stored parity for the men in blue as his strike deflected off Liam Scales and into Kelle Roos' net after the hour mark. As the game headed for extra-time, Anthony Stewart scythed down Fashion Sakala, receiving red and punished by Kemar Roofe who completed the Rangers turnaround. It turned from calm to crazy in a matter of minutes and Record Sport takes a look at the big calls made by referee Nick Walsh and VAR officials Alan Muir and Alan Mulvanny.
Kent a lucky boy?
Before Aberdeen had been reduced to ten men after Anthony Stewart's dismissal, Ryan Kent could have perhaps been sent up the hampden tunnel first. As Rangers tried to counter attack, the wide man was trying to sprint forward to support while shrugging off the attentions of Liam Scales.
The Celtic loanee went down holding his face, claiming Kent had swung a punch in his direction and connected. The incident wasn't flagged to Nick Walsh and didn't appear to even be looked at by the VAR in Clydesdale House. Replays showed that oput-of-contract star did raise his hands towards Scales, seemingly in frustration at being impeded.
Miovski offside
A somewhat gentle introduction comes in the form of Miovski's effort but it still served up as a warning sign for the Rangers defence. The Light Blues pushed high and the technical prowess of Leighton Clarkson was all too keen to pick them off.
He slotted in his striker and it was an excellent finish from the North Macedonian man, curling over goalkeeper Allan McGregor from a tight angle. Miovski wheeled away in celebration but his moment of glory was cut short almost instantly by the offside flag being raised.
It was a tight call but the VAR lines were wheeled out and it showed that Miovski had gone half a yard early and Ben Davies claimed lucky man status as his man simply ghosted round the back of him. VAR has got criticism though for the length of time it's taken to make decisions and while this was far from a long one, some fans began to get restless as Walsh waited for the thumbs up.
Aberdeen goal
So this type of thing caused a stir in the Manchester derby on Saturday. Marcus Rashford was in an offside position against Man City but he didn't touch the ball, so Bruno Fernandes swept in to score a pivotal Manchester United goal in their 2-1 win.
That's caused debate down south but Beale didn't even flinch here as this was all Rangers' own fault. Miovski was a yard offside but he calmly stepped out the way, as he would have been flagged if he had tried to get involved.
The striker wasn't interfering with play so it allowed Kennedy to burst through from deep, past the offside trap and onto the ball. By the time he collected it and his number nine reunited with him in an onside position, the damage was done for Rangers.
Teams were told with VAR's introduction that you need to keep playing until the whistle is blown. The Ibrox side found that out the hard way here and Borna Barisic was in the firing line of the pundits at half-time for his role in it.
IFAB rules state: "A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by interfering with play by playing, or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate, or interfering with an opponent by preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision, or challenging an opponent for the ball, or clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent, or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball."
Barisic and McCrorie yellows
It had ben a pretty tame game by this fixture's standards but things threatened to boil over when Ross McCrorie went flying into a challenge on Ryan Kent. It was a bit of a scrap in midfield before the Auchenhowie academy product flew into a tackle on his former teammate.
There were loud cries in the ground after the challenge and fans online were quick to vent their fury, with a couple claiming a red could have been brandished. But the IFAB rulebook states what the definition of serious foul play is and Walsh didn't deem it as so.
Then as the game drew towards its conclusion of regular time, Borna Barisic committed a similar offence. He went flying into a challenge on Matty Kennedy and was quickly given a yellow warning like McCrorie had earned.
Serious foul play's definition reads "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play .Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."
Anthony Stewart red
Yeah, see the above mentioned definition of serious foul play? Stewart's tackle on Fashion Sakala certainly falls into that bracket after a reckless challenge late in the game.
The Rangers forward was near the corner flag when the Dons skipper flew into him, studs up and off the ground. VAR did have a look at it but the gasps across the commentary box and widespread agreement on social media just about tells you all you need to know.
Ibrox favourite Neil McCann said on Sportsound co-commentary: "He's super aggressive and I am not sure why he is needing to do that. It's a red every season of your life."
VAR communication issue
Walsh was having some problems as the teams began to take their places on the pitch. Soon enough, it was announced there would be no VAR for the majority of the extra-time allocation.
Reconnection attempts were tried but the rule is quite simple for if the tech breaks down in a game. If it's broken, the game goes on without it.
At that point, you can imagine there were a few ashen faces at Clydesdale House in hope of no dodgy decisions that could be solved by VAR. They were reconnected and it was an issue that eventually passed without too much fuss.
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