Michael Beale has revealed he was looking to protect Malik Tillman from being tarred as a cheat when he ordered Rangers to let Partick Thistle equalise in yesterday’s drama-filled Scottish Cup clash.
The holders squeezed through to the quarter-final draw with a 3-2 win but only after a moment of mayhem sparked by Tillman’s controversial goal. With the score at 1-1, Jags were planning on returning the ball to the Ibrox hosts after a break in play caused by an injury to the on-loan Bayern Munich kid. But the 20-year-old US international misread the situation and snatched the ball off Kevin Holt before stroking past Thistle keeper Jamie Sneddon.
The incident set off a furious rammy as the outraged Maryhill men rushed to confront Tillman. But calm was soon restored when Beale instructed his team to let Scott Tiffoney run through and cancel out the contentious strike. And the Ibrox boss insists it was never his player’s intention to gain an unfair advantage. He said: "If you watch the whole thing back, Malik gets injured and we play the ball out. Malik is down on the floor and he doesn't see that we have played the ball out.
"So by the time Malik gets up two or three minutes later, he sees they have a throw-in. He is completely unaware of the situation. I had to speak to my bench to make sure that is what they saw as well. Malik came over and I spoke to him and he confirmed it.
"So (giving the goal back) was the right thing to do. I will tell you why it was the right thing to do. Malik Tillman is a fantastic young player and I don't want that hanging around his head. He has never cheated anyone in his life and as a football club we have high standards.
"We don't need to do that to beat Partick Thistle at home. It was complete misunderstandIng. I’m glad that we're through and glad we’re not talking about that as the reason we’re though."
Gers keeper Allan McGregor did not appear to agree with the decision, almost forcing Tiffoney out of play before eventually standing aside. The Ibrox faithful weren’t happy either and let rip.
But Beale said: “Yes it could have been risky but we don’t want to win like that. My overriding feeling on the whole situation that it would have been unjust if we had gone through that way. For me and my players and my club I don’t want that thrown at us it was an unfortunate situation and a unique one. We don’t need to steal or take something we haven’t earned.”
Thistle were hoping to record their first win at Ibrox since 1981 and the Championship outfit looked on course when Kevin Holt put them ahead from the penalty spot after a debatable VAR-sanctioned handball award.
Antonio Colak’s 15th goal of the season got Gers level before Tillman’s antics nearly set off a royal rumble in the Thistle box. In the end, Connor McAvoy’s OG four minutes from time ensured the home progressed but it was yet another afternoon when Beale’s team failed to shine and he admitted it was a “lousy” display.
The Londoner - who hooked Ianis Hagi and Todd Cantwell at half-time - said: "It was a really disjoined performance from us. I picked a team and I was excited to see the team play. We lacked rhythm in the first half and intensity out of possession.
"The VAR decision for the penalty one was difficult but it is the law, no referee or VAR is going to change it. It is the law. We need to have a chat during the week because the performance wasn’t good enough. At half time we had to go a bit more direct and be more urgent so we made the changes.
“I thought the first 11 were lousy and those two were the casualties. Kemar Roofe and Ryan Kent came on and gave us something different and that’s what’s good about having a strong squad.”
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