Rangers captain James Tavernier has called out the offside goal which cost his side the Betfred Cup, describing it as “mind-boggling”.
The Ibrox leader felt aggrieved after the officials missed three Celtic players standing in offside positions as the ball came in for Christopher Jullien to score.
It’s something which has stuck in the craw of supporters and the same can be said for a devastated James Tavernier.
“Looking at the time I did not realise it was offside. I have just seen the replay and three of them were blatantly offside,” said Tav [Daily Record].
“It is a bigger blow when you see that and you see the officials did not see that – not one of our players at any time was deeper than them.
“For that to be missed and the magnitude of the game, it really hurts.
“It was their only chance on target. At the time, I didn’t realise it was offside. It’s mind-boggling the officials didn’t see that.
“Looking back at it now you can’t really fault us one bit. Fraser had a terrific game, kept them in it and pulled off some incredible saves. It hurts seeing that not being given offside.
“I can’t fault the boys. I am proud of them. man for man. We left it all out on the pitch and were absolutely terrific from minute one.”
The offside strike was the only goal of the match and saw Rangers hearts broken as the club failed to break Celtic’s run of winning domestic trophies, which now stretches to 10 in a row.
It’s the second time in as many matches were Rangers have been hampered by a lack of strong officiating, with John Beaton failing to award a penalty against Aberdeen during the week.
That said, there is little doubt that Rangers should’ve been out of sight in the match and only have themselves to blame for not putting Celtic to the sword in the Betfred Cup Final.
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