Kris Boyd played down any controversy over decisions made in Rangers’ win over Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena. The Light Blues strolled to a 3-0 west Lothian win with the first goal coming from the penalty spot and the second from a free kick which also saw the hosts reduced to 10 men as Stephane Omeonga was dismissed for a second booking.
Omeonga’s first caution came for a foul on Glen Kamara while the penalty which set Michael Beale’s men on the way to victory came after Alfredo Morelos had his shirt pulled by James Penrice inside the box. Referee David Dickinson was referred to the VAR monitor had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
As Sky Sports went went over the game, anchor Eilidh Barbour said: “A few interesting decisions in this one, Kris,” to which the former Ibrox marksman replied: “Where?”. That prompted laughter from the panel - which included James McFadden and Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon - and as they watched Rangers’ penalty award
Boyd then said: “You can’t pull someone’s shirt in the box! Alfredo Morelos turns round straight away and goes straight to the referee. Penrice gives the referee a decision to make. He’s pulling his shirt back, you can see it.”
James McFadden chips in: “He’s not stopping him though, he’s never winning it.” Barbour says: “It’s like a letter of the law type penalty.”
McFadden said: “If you’re pulling a shirt and it’s as blatant as that and you’ve got VAR then you’re running the risk. But I don’t think he’s stopping him.”
Omeonga was sent off and Barbour asked if it was two soft yellow cards with the first a foul on Kamara in the middle of the park to halt an attack while the second was on Kemar Roofe as he raced through, with Tavernier netting a screamer from the resulting free kick.
McFadden said: “They were soft yellows for me. I understand the second one the reason is because he’s stopping a promising attack. But the first one isn’t a yellow card for me. The second, I don’t know how much contact is there. It’s a letter of the law type of decision. He steams in, tries to pull his leg out and I’m not sure how much contact is actually there.
Boyd said of the second challenge: “It’s a foul but it’s not a yellow card.”
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