Rangers boss baffled by Hibs penalty call & hits out at inconsistency.
Philippe Clement was pleased to see Rangers continue their winning streak, but was disappointed with the penalty handed to Hibernian in the 1-0 triumph.
Jack Butland saved Mykola Kuharevich’s first-half penalty, which was awarded after VAR informed referee Nick Walsh that John Souttar had touched the ball in the box.
However, Clement has seen similar instances go unpunished in recent weeks and questions the officials’ logic this time around.
“My question is ‘why is that a penalty?’,” an angry Rangers boss said during his post-match interview.
“You have a guy that raises his leg to go to the ball, thus he is wide. When he sees the other player make contact, he shrinks himself to place his arm in front of them. And suddenly the ball strikes him, and his arm moves
“In that little distance, I’ve witnessed a case in the previous few weeks when folks had their arm out of their body and received no penalty. It was decided before the season not to issue those simple penalties from a short distance in certain situations. For me, it is not a punishment.”
(Image: PA.)Clement acknowledged the problems of managing European football and domestic commitments.
“The performance was not incredible, but that’s difficult playing that early after a European game away,” the player said.
“The healing time was substantially shorter. Some leagues consider providing teams greater rest time. I noticed less freshness in the players than in the previous several weeks. “That is normal.”
Hibernian manager David Gray stated, “I’ll never accept losing games of football, but if there is a way to lose, that’s probably it.”
“The players put all into it. I have absolutely no complaints. The game plan was strong, and the opportunities we produced were good. We deserved at least a point.
“The lads are devastated because they’ve put so much effort in, but there are many things to take away, so there are mixed feelings.
“I thought we were going to get the goal and, if we got one, I think we would’ve gone on to win the game.”
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