Chris Sutton has provided his thoughts as he reacts to ‘crucial’ Ianis Hagi controversy as Rangers and Celtic played out a 1-1 draw at Ibrox on Sunday.
Chris Sutton has provided his thoughts as Rangers and Celtic played out a 1-1 draw at Ibrox on Sunday.
The final Old Firm derby of the season ended in a draw, with Cyriel Dessers and Adam Idah finding the back of the net for their respective teams on 4 May.
While there were only two yellow cards dished out, the game was not short of drama, as Idah had a goal ruled out in the first half, among other major talking points.
Meanwhile, Rangers thought they should have had a penalty after Ianis Hagi was brought down in the box by Callum McGregor.
Sutton reacts to Hagi penalty incident in Rangers v Celtic
The penalty incident involving Hagi was one of the biggest talking points from the game, as the result would have been different had Nick Walsh awarded a spot-kick.
Nicolas Raskin had a shot saved by Viljami Sinisalo before the ball fell to Hagi, who was tumbled down onto the floor by McGregor before he could take a shot.
There was a brief VAR check, only to stick with the referee’s on-field decision, much to the Light Blues’ frustration.
Meanwhile, Sutton, who mistook McGregor for Liam Scales, claimed that the Celtic ace was ‘entitled’ to lean his body into Hagi to prevent the shot.
“He [Hagi] wants a penalty”, Sutton said on Sky Sports Football (4 May, 1:44 pm).
“I wonder whether he’s injured in the process, but I think it was Scales who got his body in. I think he’s entitled to do that.
“Just slips Raskin at a crucial time, jolts his shot into the floor. McGregor leans his body in. Decent stop from Sinisalo.”
The Sky Sports pundit saw nothing wrong with McGregor’s challenge, describing it as a ‘crucial’ intervention instead.
“It’s crucial from Callum McGregor there, settled the danger”, he added.
Barry Ferguson woes at Ibrox continue
With that, Ferguson has gone all five of his games at Ibrox without a win since taking charge as Rangers’ interim manager in February.
It is also worth noting that the Glasgow giants are now on a six-game winless run across all competitions.
This abysmal form will certainly have quashed any hopes Ferguson had of becoming the next permanent manager of the Light Blues.
Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe are increasingly likely to look elsewhere for Philippe Clement’s long-term replacement once their takeover is confirmed.
