Rangers, Celtic, Dessers and that disallowed goal

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Rangers, Celtic, Dessers and that disallowed goal
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 03: Kemar Roofe of Rangers (C) celebrates with teammates Cyriel Dessers and Rabbi Matondo after scoring the team's first goal which was later disallowed by VAR during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox Stadium on September 03, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

We’ve not touched on the infamous disallowed goal which some fans are definitely not happy with, and we can understand that ire.

Dessers nicked the ball off Lagerbaker or whatever his name is, and set up Kemar Roofe for an apparent goal, only for VAR to chop off the strike for a foul.

So, we wanted to offer our tuppence on this one.

It was a foul, if not a deliberate one.

See, Dessers stuck his foot in, and that motion caused the defender’s swinging leg to kick involuntarily and make him fall. It was an accidental foul, which, had it not led to a goal, would have likely been overlooked.

But the significance of it increased when Kemar thrashed the net.

What way we’d put this is if that had been Maeda on Sterling or Souttar, setting up Kyogo in the same way, we’d be screaming for the foul too, for the goal to be disallowed.

Is it unfortunate? Yes, a little – it wasn’t malicious by Dessers. But it was a foul, in any language. We’ve seen those given many times in the box as penalties, and funnily enough, the same debate has raged as a result of those calls.

Some have argued that it changed the course of the game – but nothing stopped Lammers missing an open net, nothing stopped Joe Hart blocking a few shots from Danilo and others, and nothing from the officials made Rangers that ineffective in the final third.

Up against a ghastly Celtic, Rangers just could not score, not legally anyway.

And let’s be honest, Celtic were a tonne more dangerous when they had chances – both goalies had 3 saves to make. Three exactly a piece. Rangers’ defenders did more to stop Celtic’s attack, and they were mostly wasteful.

But the big chance taken by Kyogo settled it, and Rangers thereafter couldn’t even equalise.

It was a poor day, and while the chopped-off goal didn’t help, Rangers can only blame ourselves and our manager for the outcome.

If we couldn’t beat a Celtic that bad, it’s game over.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. A catagory 1 ref on the D.R saying its not a free kick and there was no need for VAR to step in. Also isnt football still a contact sport ? The way its going its nearly non contact now.

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