Rangers youngster Josh McPake has hit out at a poor refereeing decision during the midweek UEFA Euro U19 Qualifier against Belarus, as quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times.
The 18-year-old attacker, who is currently on loan at Dundee, played the full game as the young Scots were held to a 2-2 draw at Cappielow.
They led 2-0 after 20 minutes, courtesy of goals from Gers prospects Nathan Patterson and Dapo Mebude. Yet, they were then pegged back by Belarus strikes either side of half-time.
In the 69th minute, McPake was booked for simulation in the area, but he maintains that it should have been a penalty and his side should have had an opportunity to retake the lead.
“We’ve still got a good chance of getting through the group but we’re annoyed we didn’t win the other night,” he said, as quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times. “It’s frustrating as we got ourselves into such a good position but let it slip.”
“We were coasting at 2-0 but just didn’t take our chances. We hit the post and the bar late on and should have won. The way we started I felt we could have gone on to score four or five but we let them back into it.
“But I don’t know how I got booked for that challenge on me late in the game. I was tripped in a goalscoring position so there was no reason for me to go down. So if we had got a second penalty it could have made a big difference.”
Verdict
There’s clearly a sense of injustice lingering here with McPake and that’s understandable, given that had a penalty been awarded, the U19s still could have picked up three points.
Yet, this talented young side shouldn’t be needing two penalties to get past opposition like Belarus. Especially, when the visitors played the last ten minutes with ten men.
There’s no point dwelling on the result, though, and there’s an immediate chance to bounce back against Andorra – who lost their group opening against Germany – this afternoon.
McPake will no doubt be hoping to take advantage of the relatively weak opposition to bag himself a few goals.
