After a lacklustre first 45 minutes, Rangers ran out comfortable winners over St Johnstone on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of four second-half strikes.
The margin could have been even greater, though, but for an inexplicable decision from referee Andrew Dallas.
With the score at 2-0, Ryan Jack attempted to lift the ball past Murray Davidson, who was stationed just inside the penalty area.
The Saints midfielder proceeded to use his extended left arm to knock the ball away, eliminating the threat and winning his side the ball back. Yet, despite the obviousness of the action and the vociferous appeals from Rangers players, referee Andrew Dallas was unmoved.
Pundits stunned by referee call against Rangers
The BT Sport commentary team was amazed by the decision or lack thereof. “How close do you need to be?” exclaimed Chris Sutton, before both he and Stephen Craigan burst into laughter in disbelief.
The decision was then debated by those in the BT Sport studio after the game, where Ally McCoist also saw the funny side.
“I don’t know the exact rule, so I’m not going to try and interpret it, as such,” said his colleague Kenny Miller.
“The rule is that that’s a penalty!” said McCoist amid chuckles, having just concluded a rant on the incident.
Given the position of the game at the time, this wasn’t a costly error. Yet, had a farcical decision like this caused the Gers to drop points, it would have been no laughing matter.
This isn’t a case of anti-Rangers bias. The same referee awarded Steven Gerrard’s side four penalties in a game against St Mirren last season.
Yet, if VAR is an unattainable goal in the short term in Scotland, the standard of officiating simply must improve.
Everyone in the stadium and watching at home could see that it was handball, but the one man who counts missed it.
