Glasgow Rangers lost out in the first Old Firm derby of the season with Steven Gerrard’s men losing 2-0 at Ibrox.
Kris Boyd told Sky Sports’ live coverage of Rangers’ clash with Celtic (broadcast on 1/9 from 11:30) that he thought that Callum McGregor should have been sent off for the early challenge on Scott Arfield which went unpunished at Ibrox.
Neil Lennon’s side won the first Old Firm meeting of the season in comfortable fashion, with Odsonne Edouard and Jonny Hayes scoring either of the break for the Scottish Premiership champions.
While there was ultimately a red card, it was not until the late stages of the game that Bobby Madden showed any cards. But Boyd felt that he could have produced a red within the first 10 minutes.
McGregor slid in on Arfield with a very late challenge in the middle of the park in the ninth minute. The referee played on as Rangers still had possession, and he then gave McGregor a talking to when the ball went out of play. But Boyd suggested that he would have dismissed the Hoops man.
“This one for me is a red card. I think he’s late, the ball’s already away. Bobby Madden’s right in front of it, you can see Callum McGregor there, just a lunge,” he told Sky Sports.
It would have been a big surprise had Madden produced a red card. It was not a good challenge and McGregor could have had few complaints had he been booked even at that stage of the game.
Similarly, you can understand the referee’s thinking, knowing that there was going to be plenty of challenges flying in over the course of the contest.
Rangers may understandably feel hard done by as McGregor was extremely lucky to avoid a yellow card. But Madden would have surely come in for a lot more criticism if he had agreed with Boyd and sent the Bhoys man off.
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