Jon Flanagan was lucky not to be sent off as Rangers secured a 2-0 Scottish Premiership win against Old Firm rivals Celtic at Ibrox.
Scott Brown has explained why Rangers’ Jon Flanagan avoided a red card in Sunday’s Old Firm derby, telling the Daily Record that referee Kevin Clancy did not believe the Celtic skipper had been caught in the face by the defender’s arm.
Rangers were superb as they secured back-to-back home wins against Celtic, goals from Scott Arfield and James Tavernier capping arguably their finest performance since Steven Gerrard took over at the start of last summer.
But it is not an Old Firm game without controversy and Flanagan ensured he would be at the centre of the post-match discussion. The former Liverpool defender was very fortunate to stay on the pitch for a needless elbow to the face of Brown after all.
Understandably, the former Scotland skipper was not too happy as Flanagan avoided punishment, just a few months after Alfredo Morelos got away with a similar incident at Ibrox.
“Another one to the face. Surprisingly, somebody didn’t see that again,” Brown said.
“But there’s always a linesman there who can see it from the corner flag. There are two people there, both said they didn’t properly see it, so it’s a hard one for them.
“He (referee Clancy) said it was a yellow because it didn’t hit me in the face. But it’s part and parcel.”
Celtic manager Neil Lennon was equally miffed with the referee’s display, claiming Clancy’s decision not to send Flanagan for an early bath was ‘unacceptable’ (Daily Record).
Fortunately for Celtic, the Scottish Premiership title is already theirs but the nature of this latest defeat at Ibrox will raise concerns that the monopoly could soon become a duopoly again.
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