Frank McAvennie

Fri 8 September 2023 11:03, UK

Kemar Roofe’s goal for Rangers against Celtic was rightly disallowed.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former Hoops striker Frank McAvennie said that regardless of what people think, referee Don Robertson was applying the laws of the game.

As shown on Sky Sports (3 September), Cyriel Dessers appears to win the ball from Gustaf Lagerbielke that, at first glance, looks like a horror mistake from the Celtic defender before setting up Roofe for the goal.

Robertson allowed the goal to stand but VAR official Alan Muir instructed the referee to have another look at the incident, after which the onfield official disallowed the goal and awarded a free kick to the Hoops.

Brendan Rodgers’ side went on to win the game 1-0 after a wonder striker from Kyogo Furuhashi fired the Hoops ahead just before half time.

McAvennie insisted the officials made the right call according to the laws of the game.

“The referee was applying the law and he was right,” he told Football Insider.

“It does not matter what I think about whether it was a foul, by the law of the game it was a foul.

“He [Lagerbielke] is a young boy and he will learn from that but I do not understand why they are so pernickety with the rules. If Dessers had touched the ball it would not have been a foul, they are just making things harder for themselves.

“No matter what happens you can’t argue with it, it is a foul in today’s game but the interpretations of the game seem to be changing on a weekly basis at the moment.“

In other news, Rangers set for £25m+ payout – £4.3m already heading to Ibrox.