Rangers lost out in today’s Premier Sports Cup final in the cruelest of fashions.
Philippe Clement’s men showed they can compete with Celtic across a 90 minutes as they drew 3-3 in what was a thrilling showpiece clash at Hampden.
Gers took a lead into the half-time break thanks to Nedim Bajrami being alert to score on the rebound from Hamza Igamane’s effort.
Celtic managed to flip it to go 2-1 up but Mohamed Diomande finished well from inside the box to level it up again.
Nicolas Kuhn looked to have won it for them on 87 minutes but then Danilo pounced to head home an even later equaliser and force extra-time.
Penalties would be the decider and Ridvan Yilmaz was the only person to miss his kick, allowing Daizen Maeda to knock in the winner.
There were plenty of good individual performances on the day but one Rangers man has been highlighted by Neil Lennon for his “excellent” showing.
He wasn’t the only one who impressed as Rangers News gave out two 8/10s in our player ratings.
Cerny denied penalty for Rangers vs Celtic
But should Rangers have been awarded a penalty kick during the 120 minutes which could have changed the course of the match?
The moment in question is when Vaclav Cerny tried to advance into the box but was wrestled to the ground by Liam Scales.
Referee John Beaton awarded a free-kick and James Tavernier sent it harmlessly over the bar.
But pictures show Scales was inside the penalty box when he had a grip of Cerny’s jersey.
And former referee Bobby Madden is astounded VAR didn’t pick up on that and inform the whistler.
Sharing a still of the foul on social media, he said: “This is 100 per cent a penalty kick. It doesn’t matter when the holding started, when it ended or what direction the players are moving.
“This is clear evidence of holding within the penalty area and I’m amazed this hasn’t been identified by VAR.
“Referee team had been excellent until that point.
“Difficult live, but that’s why VAR is there.”
Unlucky but Rangers can take plenty from performance
Madden has a point – you can see how that could be missed in real time but how is VAR missing that?
It means Rangers can count themselves even more unlucky not to have their hands on the trophy this evening.
Despite pre-match fears from Gers fans over the team selection, it was a good performance and proved to fans and everyone else that the team CAN compete with Celtic.
While it’s ultimately disappointment on the night, that could be a big boost for the rest of the meetings to come in the league.
