NafisaVanja Dragojevic endured a nightmare introduction to Scottish Premiership football with Rangers after becoming the centre of controversy during Sunday’s clash with Hibernian at Ibrox.
The 20-year-old midfielder was handed his first competitive start for the Gers by Derek McInnes, but his afternoon quickly turned sour when he was penalised for an alleged foul on Jason Kerr inside the Rangers box.
The incident immediately sparked confusion around Ibrox, with many Rangers players and supporters seemingly unable to understand why the VAR review had even been triggered.
After being advised to take another look at the pitch-side monitor, referee Don Robertson ultimately decided that Dragojevic had pulled Kerr down and awarded Hibernian a penalty.
Josh Campbell made no mistake from the spot, calmly sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to give the visitors the advantage.
Dragojevic was also shown a yellow card, making an already frustrating moment even worse for the Rangers youngster.
The decision immediately caused uproar among the home support, while several Rangers players were visibly stunned that Robertson had stuck with the penalty call.
Michael Stewart delivers his verdict
Michael Stewart was equally unimpressed with the decision.
The former Scotland international was working as a pundit for Premier Sports when the incident unfolded and immediately questioned both the original decision and VAR’s involvement.
Stewart argued that there was not enough in the challenge to justify overturning the on-field decision and appeared genuinely astonished when Robertson eventually pointed to the spot.
He said: “It doesn’t look good for Dragojevic, but that’s not a penalty kick, that’s not a penalty.
“I don’t know why VAR are looking at this. Jason Kerr falls to the ground without, they just don’t need to be getting involved with that.
“It looks like they’re going to give a penalty kick. It’s absolutely incredible, it really is. Nobody’s looked at that in real time, it’s way after the fact, I just do not see there’s any need for VAR to be getting involved in that.”
Stewart’s comments reflected the disbelief around Ibrox as Rangers watched a marginal incident turn into a penalty against them.
The decision was particularly frustrating for Dragojevic, who had been given the opportunity to make his first Premiership start in front of the Rangers faithful.
Instead, his first major moment in the Scottish top flight became one he will undoubtedly want to forget.
Dragojevic left to deal with controversial decision
There was little the Rangers midfielder could do once Robertson had made his final decision.
The VAR review had already taken place and, despite the protests from Rangers players, the referee remained convinced that there had been enough contact to award Hibernian the spot-kick.
Lawrence Shankland was among the Rangers players who appeared particularly bemused by the decision, while the Ibrox crowd made their feelings abundantly clear.
For Dragojevic, the incident represents an unfortunate start to what Rangers will hope becomes an important career at the club.
McInnes clearly trusted the youngster enough to hand him a starting role in a major league fixture, but the controversy ensured his debut was overshadowed almost immediately.
The bigger frustration for Rangers was that the penalty came during another difficult opening period for McInnes’ side.
Having already endured a disappointing start to the campaign, Rangers were desperate to produce a response in front of their home support.
Instead, another contentious refereeing decision gave Hibernian a major advantage and left the Ibrox faithful furious.
Whether Robertson’s decision will continue to dominate the post-match discussion remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Dragojevic’s first Premiership start will be remembered for a controversial VAR intervention rather than the performance the young midfielder would have wanted to deliver.
Nafisa
