Following the defeat of Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup final against their bitterest rivals at the Hampden this past weekend, the club’s manager Philippe Clement expressed his surprise at the referee’s decision to disallow a penalty kick after Rangers’ Liam Scales defaulted on Vaclav Cerny.
There was a nervy moment when Scales appeared to foul Cerny just outside the penalty area and a free kick was awarded to Rangers instead of a penalty. But post-match videos showed that Cerny’s foot was part of the box when the foul was committed. Former match official Bobby Madden even went on social media to state that it should have been a penalty kick.
Clement asked in surprise why VAR officer Alan Muir did not urge Beaton to check the scene on the pitchside monitor. Even though his team was defeated with a 3-1 score in a penalty shoot-out, Clement thanked his team for their great effort and determination during the final.
Recalling the match, Clement said that football is a cruel game but it is crucial to learn from such kind of defeat in order to avoid it in the future stats. He agreed with the big focus placed on the scandalous penalty case and promised to turn it into a lesson for his players.
Clement was disappointed with the loss but believes that there is fighting spirit in his team to try and get better every time they are on the pitch. He then thanked Ranger for sanctions given to Ridvan Yilmaz for being a left-back to volunteer for a penalty shootout showing that more players must stand in and be responsible on the pitch.