It was quite the day for Ross McCausland in Livingston as the young Rangers winger finds himself at the centre of penalty and VAR drama.
Rangers boss Philippe Clement handed Ross McCausland his first start for Rangers at the Tony Macaroni Arena in a day the former Linfield talent will never forget.
And the 20-year-old continued his strong cameo showings from the bench as of late, looking every inch the energetic, direct and menacing wide man who has caused problems late on in games recently.
But as the game was to wear on, Ross McCausland was to play a pivotal role in the story of it after the award of a penalty and a disallowed maiden Rangers goal.
Ross McCausland at centre of VAR controversy v Livingston
Ross McCausland has courted controversy from the usual subjects for his role in Rangers’ first penalty of the day against Livingston.
The winger won the spot-kick after seemingly being fouled by Livingston stopper Shamal George with former Celtic pair Frank McAvennie and Chris Sutton fuming after the game.
The incident came after Connor Goldson had already had a goal controversially ruled out for offside by VAR with Cyriel Dessers adjudged to have interfered with the player in the build-up.
Accusing the young Rangers winger of a “dive” it was a sign of the chaos to come for the attacker on a day of VAR drama in Livingston.
After James Tavernier missed the spot-kick, under-pressure Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers would go on to put the Gers in front with a deflected effort after being put through by Tom Lawrence.
Ross McCausland then thought he’d scored his first ever Rangers goal before the effort was ruled out by VAR for an apparent Abdallah Sima shove in the build-up.
Rangers would then double their lead in the second half through another James Tavernier penalty, Mikey Devlin being ruled to have handled the ball with a raised arm.
That would spell an end to the refereeing drama as Ross McCausland was eventually subbed off the park with Rangers more than good value for the victory in Livingston.
Ross McCausland’s first Rangers start comes amid much reporting surrounding a potential new contract for the winger, whose current deal runs to the end of the season.
Reports have suggested that Rangers are in negotiations over a new deal with the club only set to bank £300k in development fees if they let the winger leave at the end of his contract in the summer.
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