Hibs manager Jack Ross was upset after yesterday’s 1-0 defeat by Rangers because his side wasn’t awarded a penalty for an apparent foul by Ianis Hagi – but the Easter Road manager’s complaints are laughable as he grasps at straws after the defeat.
Ross felt that a clearance by Hagi was dangerous play – aided by Joe Newell going down holding his face like he’d just been shot – but pictures on Twitter show Hagi’s boot came nowhere near the Hibs star’s head.
“Denied stonewall penalty” 🙄
Clear caution for feigning injury, 3 angles & all 3 show the foot was nowhere near his head.
He tried to cheat and got away with it
Worst part is the papers spinning this narrative are using THESE photos 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/W5bot1nQ8G
— 𝕯𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖉 𝕾𝖒𝖎𝖙𝖍 (@DJS1621320) December 26, 2020
Incredibly, despite Hagi having had his boot up on the right of Newell, the Hibs man went down clutching the opposite side of his face in a bid to con referee Don Robertson.
Given the complete lack of any contact, the best Hibs could have hoped for would have been an indirect free-kick.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the final whistle, Ross was certain the Edinburgh side should have had a spot-kick, pointing to the Newell incident and another involving Ryan Porteous and James Tavernier.
Neither of the two incidents Ross referred to was close to being a penalty and there was, arguably, a stronger shout when Porteous took Kemar Roofe out at the other end of the park.
Rangers would have been well within their rights to complain about that one but it’s been shown time and again that mentioning the lack of quality from officials is simply futile.
Hagi scores the only goal of the game against Hibs (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Given the complete lack of contact in the Hagi challenge, quite how anyone could view it as a penalty is baffling and fans of ANY club would be appalled if that was given against them.
Here’s how we rated Steven Gerrard’s stars as they faced Hibs at Ibrox yesterday