Rangers appeared to survive a penalty scare on Thursday night as VAR agreed with Nick Walsh’s on-field decision not to penalise James Sands for a handball inside his own area.
It was far from the start that Michael Beale would have wanted as manger of Rangers Football Club but in the end the Light Blues came away with all three points emerging 3-2 victors.
They quickly found themselves behind in the early stages and despite replying just seconds later the Bears were trailing 2-1 as Kevin Nisbet restored Hibernian’s lead.
However, the Hibees had a strong shout for a penalty which could have saw them extend their advantage when the ball came off Sands’ arm.
The American was at sixes and sevens for most of the night and video footage appears to show him misjudging a header with the ball then landing on his forearm out in front of him as seen below.
(Image: BBC Scotland)
TIF Thoughts on the decision…
Were Rangers lucky not to concede a penalty?Yes, definitely!
No, how can you give that?
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VAR was introduced to Scottish Premiership football shortly before the mid-season break and this kind of issue is something we have come to contend with in this day and age.
Despite the fact that Sands didn’t breach any of the IFAB rules for this type of misconduct it is certainly a matter that comes down to the referee’s interpretation and you could understand why he may have given it. Although the defender has his eyes on the ball it quite clearly comes off his arm in a slight punching motion as he misjudged the flight.
We feel Rangers have got away with one at such a pivotal time in the game when they may have fallen two goals behind but Gers fans will point to the likes of the Connor Goldson concession versus Union Saint-Gilloise in August and claim that these decisions do tend to even themselves out.
Interestingly, Rangers were awarded a penalty by VAR earlier on this season against Aberdeen as the opposition player moved his hand towards the ball after an unexpected bounce, which isn’t too dissimilar to this incident with the player misjudging the flight of the ball.