Aberdeen made it seven wins in a row on Sunday with a magnificent 2-0 Pittodrie triumph against Rangers.
The week of the game was dominated by the fall-out from Dons skipper Graeme Shinnie’s red card at Ross County, the Reds’ appeal and the controversial four-game ban handed down to the midfielder off the back of it.
Clashes between Aberdeen and Rangers are generally tempestuous affairs. And there were question marks, as always, about what bearing the officiating – from the Nick Walsh-led refereeing team to VAR – would have on proceedings when the sides met in the Granite City.
Our expert Finlay Elder reviews the performance of the men in black during the Dons’ victory.
Early Duk penalty would have been wrong call
We started off with an early penalty shout from Aberdeen as Duk went down after a challenge from Rangers’ John Souttar.
There were big claims from the crowd and the Reds players, but I think no penalty was the right call, as there wasn’t too much in it. Souttar was on the side of Duk he wanted to be, and got the ball after a perfectly legitimate bit of contact.
The Jonny Hayes penalty claim later in the game was similar. There just wasn’t enough contact to warrant a spot-kick.
I actually thought Bojan Miovski was incredibly lucky to avoid a booking for his protests to referee Walsh in the aftermath of the Duk incident. At one point, he even appeared to put his hands on the ref, although, having seen it again, it is more a natural movement as they are both running full-pelt next to each other.
Rangers’ Cantwell lucky not to walk for two bookings
Rangers’ Todd Cantwell could consider himself lucky in my opinion following a pull on Ylber Ramadani in the first half, for which he easily could have been booked.
He was eventually cautioned for a lunge on Mattie Pollock, and it could be argued both fouls should have been yellows.
Aberdeen’s Duk and Liam Scales were booked for similar pulls to Cantwell’s later on in the game.
Although referees do take how much time has been played in a match into account when deciding whether to issue a booking, it’s something I don’t completely agree with – a booking should be a booking no matter if it is in the first or last minute.
Dons’ second was right to stand, as ‘pull’ on Sakala was no foul
In the second half, Aberdeen took the lead after an amazing goal from Scales… cross or not.
And they quickly double their lead eight minutes later through a fantastic Miovski diving header.
There was a lengthy VAR check on whether Miovski was offside – he wasn’t, because no part of his body he could legally score with was beyond the last defender when the ball was played.
However, after the game, Rangers manager Michael Beale claimed VAR were looking at the wrong thing and Aberdeen should’ve been penalised in the build-up for a pull from Ramadani on Fashion Sakala.
I think there’s absolutely nothing in it – it’s a slight pull at most, but makes no impact on the ability of Sakala to play the ball. He passes it and gives it away, and it’s never a foul.
🗣️ "I thought, in the build-up to the second goal, there was a foul on Sakala"
Michael Beale shares his thoughts on a frustrating evening as Rangers lost to Aberdeen ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XHLnGaKDwl
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 23, 2023
Eight minutes added could have easily been 10 minutes
We now move on to the amount of added time the officials deemed right to be played at the end of the game.
Some Dons were not happy with eight minutes – but I honestly think it could’ve been more. I genuinely thought we could have 10 minutes extra being played.
You had long waits for VAR and injuries to Kelle Roos, Hayes and Ryan Duncan.
There was also a wait to remove a pyrotechnic thrown on to the pitch after the first Dons goal.
Ultimately, there was no repeat of the comeback from Rangers the last time the two sides faced each other at Pittodrie, and the Reds were comfortable winners in the end.
Ball boys incident part of a strange display from ref Walsh
Overall, I thought ref Walsh was incredibly inconsistent when it came to the less significant calls he made during the match.
Some decisions were baffling, for both teams.
I think the fact the referee also took it upon himself to go over and tell an Aberdeen employee the ball boys needed to speed it up was ridiculous.
Although the Dons players were perhaps guilty of running down the clock at certain points (as any sensible team in their position would) – something the referee could and should have dealt with if he thought it was a problem – there was no chance the ball boys were deliberately time wasting.
- Finlay Elder has been a registered referee for six years and a category 5 official since 2019, with experience in the Highland League, juniors and Club Academy.
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