NafisaReferee Don Robertson has revealed why he awarded the penalty to Hibs at Ibrox in 2-1 defeat to Rangers
Rangers were left furious by a controversial penalty decision during their 2-1 defeat to Hibernian at Ibrox, with referee Don Robertson eventually pointing to the spot after being called over to the VAR monitor.
The incident occurred during the first half when Vanja Dragojevic became involved in a physical battle with Hibs defender Jason Kerr inside the Rangers penalty area.
At first, there appeared to be little reaction to the incident, with neither the Hibs players nor the Rangers players immediately treating it as an obvious foul.
However, VAR intervened and asked Robertson to review the footage at the pitchside monitor.
After watching the incident again, the referee decided that Dragojevic had committed a foul and awarded Hibernian a penalty.
Josh Campbell made no mistake from the spot, giving David Gray’s side the lead and putting Rangers on the back foot at Ibrox.
But what exactly convinced Robertson to change his mind?
The main issue appears to have been Dragojevic’s positioning and the nature of his contact with Kerr.
Several pundits pointed out that the Rangers midfielder was looking towards Kerr rather than watching the ball as the cross came into the penalty area.
That became particularly significant because Dragojevic had his hands on the Hibs defender during the tussle.
The argument from the officials was therefore that Dragojevic’s contact went beyond the normal physical battle between two players competing for position.
However, there was considerable disagreement over whether the contact was sufficient to warrant a penalty.
Former Rangers defender Alan Hutton was among those who questioned the decision, describing it as “soft”.
Tony Docherty also believed the award was extremely harsh, particularly because Kerr was himself making contact with Dragojevic.
Former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday went even further, warning that he hoped the incident would not become the standard for awarding penalties from set-pieces.
The biggest criticism was that the incident appeared to involve both players.
Kerr had his hands on Dragojevic, while Dragojevic was also holding his opponent. That made it difficult for many watching to understand why only the Rangers player was deemed to have committed an offence.
Former Celtic captain Scott Brown also admitted that Dragojevic was responsible for initiating the contact but still felt the incident did not meet the threshold for a penalty.
“100 per cent he [Dragojevic] starts it, but it’s not enough for me,” Brown said.
That neatly sums up the controversy surrounding Robertson’s decision.
The referee was not initially convinced that an offence had occurred. It was only after VAR intervened and Robertson reviewed the footage that he decided the contact was punishable.
The decision ultimately proved hugely significant.
Campbell converted the penalty to put Hibs ahead before Rangers eventually equalised through a Miguel Chaiwa own goal.
Just when it appeared Rangers might rescue the afternoon, Callum Wright’s late deflected strike secured a dramatic 2-1 victory for the visitors.
Rangers therefore left Ibrox without a win from their opening two Premiership fixtures, while the penalty became one of the biggest talking points of the afternoon.
From Robertson’s perspective, the decisive factor was the contact initiated by Dragojevic inside the box, particularly the fact that he was focused on Kerr rather than attempting to play the ball.
But the controversy is unlikely to disappear quickly.
With both players involved in the grappling and several former players and officials questioning whether the contact was strong enough, Rangers supporters will feel they were on the wrong end of an extremely marginal VAR decision.
Ultimately, Robertson had the final say after reviewing the footage.
And while the referee judged Dragojevic’s actions to be enough for a penalty, the reaction from those watching suggested this was anything but a straightforward decision.
Nafisa
