‘That would’ve worried me’ – Celtic boss Rodgers makes admission about Rangers match
By James Black
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has admitted he can sympathise with Pedro Caixinha over the officiating in Rangers’ Scottish League Cup semi-final defeat by Motherwell.
Referee Steven McLean made several baffling decisions and missed four red cards in the ill-tempered clash at Hampden on Sunday.
Rangers defender Fabio Cardoso had his nose broken by an elbow from Ryan Bowman with McLean continuing the match as blood flowed from the Portuguese defenders’ face.
Bowman, Louis Moult, Bruno Alves and Cedric Kipre could all have seen red during the 2-0 win for the Steelemen while both managers recieved their marching orders after the incident which left Cardoso requiring treatment.
Rodgers revealed that he understood why Caixinha was vexed at McLean’s decisions and said that he felt the refereeing performance wasn’t up to scratch.
“There was a couple of decisions yesterday that would’ve worried me,” Rodgers said, as quoted by the BBC Sport website.
“I thought the authority from the officials in the game was poor.
“You play in that level of game, I could see why Pedro was probably annoyed.
“There was a couple of incidents there that went unpunished.
“You maybe would’ve got away with that in the ’80s, but certainly not now.”
Rodgers’ side will meet Motherwell three times in six days with the League Cup final on November 26th taking place before back-to-back meetings in the Scottish Premiership.
Celtic won their semi-final over Hibs on Saturday after doubles from Mikael Lustig and Moussa Dembele sealed a 4-2 win at the national stadium.
Next for Celtic is a top-of-the-table clash with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday night as the Hoops look to open up a three-point lead over Derek McInnes’ in-form Dons.
In other Celtic news, this Premier League giant has ramped up their pursuit of a Celtic first-team mainstay after jetting out on a transfer mission.
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