da luck： A number of journalists were left stunned by the decision to disallow Rangers of a first-half goal in their clash at home to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon.
Did Rangers beat Celtic in the derby?
da supremo： The Gers had made a solid enough start to the season before the weekend action, picking up six points from their opening three league matches, although their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of PSV Eindhoven in midweek saw them crash out of the Champions League before the group stages.
For that reason, confidence may not have been particularly high heading into Sunday's visit of bitter rivals and reigning Scottish Premiership champions Celtic, with the Hoops one point ahead of them before kickoff. There was the opportunity for them to overtake their adversaries, however, acting as a huge incentive.
Rangers thought they had taken the lead during the first half when Cyriel Dessers robbed Gustaf Lagerbielke of the ball, before squaring to Kemar Roofe to fire into the net and send the home crowd wild. The goal was ruled out, however, with the former adjudged to have fouled the Celtic man when getting to the ball, much to the frustration of those inside the stadium.
Michael Beale's side then found themselves behind seconds before half-time, with Kyogo Furuhashi firing home to emphatic finish to put the visitors 1-0 up, finding himself clean-through and nailing a strike past Jack Butland, a goal which proved to be the winner.
How did the media react to Rangers' disallowed goal?
Taking to X, journalist John Barnes was left shocked by the decision at Ibrox, not holding back on his thoughts on it:
"OMG can’t believe the referee has got it wrong as well as VAR. Lagerbielke kicked Dessers. The goal should have stood. Another shocker this weekend by officials @RangersFC v @CelticFC the head of referees can’t hide any longer he must explain."
Meanwhile, Jonny McFarlane described it as a "baffling" moment in the game on X, proving to be pivotal to the result, too:
"That’s a baffling decision. Totally agree with Kenny Miller. Lagerbielke kicks Dessers."
This was yet another case of VAR proving to be divisive in the modern game, and the decision not to allow Roofe's goal is another where there will be differing opinions.
In fairness, there did appear to be some contact with Lagerbielke, but whether there was enough to actually overrule the original decision is up for debate, and it ultimately cost Rangers at a critical point in the game.
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It further raises question marks over how much VAR impacts the general footballing spectacle as a supporter these days, with the technology robbing fans of celebrating in the moment, instead having to worry about their joy turning to despair once a check has been done.
Granted, it does lead to some correct decisions being made, but it could be argued that it is having too detrimental impact on the all-round enjoyment of football, especially as some of the officiating remains questionable even with VAR in use, as highlighted once again at Ibrox.