Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has claimed that the officials were “right” to not send Celtic’s Shane Duffy off against Rangers.
During the recent Old Firm derby, Steven Gerrard’s side sealed an impressive 1-0 win against their rivals through a Callum McGregor own goal (per BBC).
While Nir Bitton saw red for hauling back Alfredo Morelos in the second half, Duffy was supposedly ‘lucky’ not to follow the Israeli midfielder down the tunnel at Ibrox (per Rangers).
With Ryan Kent looking to break for the Gers, Duffy made ‘a pretty wild lunge‘ and brought down the English forward, however, he only received a yellow card.
Speaking exclusively to This is Futbol, Halsey said: “You have to determine whether it was a reckless challenge, which is a free-kick and, of course, a yellow card offence.
“Or, was it a challenge that endangers the player’s safety with excessive force with brutality? Which comes under the banner of serious foul play and a red card should be issued.
“I thought it was a caution offence for a reckless challenge.
“I didn’t see that as a challenge that endangered player safety with excessive force and brutality, so, I thought that they got that right.”
Do you think Shane Duffy should have been sent off against Rangers?
No, it was a yellow
Yes, should have been red
Despite Duffy avoiding a red card in the Old Firm derby, it had no impact on Rangers sealing victory as they secured the 1-0 win.
Following Gerrard’s side’s victory over their rivals, that means that the Premiership table-toppers have won 20 of their opening 22 league matches.
Furthermore, the Gers have gone undefeated in the league up to this point in the season having drawn the two matches which they did not win.
While Neil Lennon’s side does have three games in hand on Rangers, they currently trail the Gers by a whopping 19 points in second position.