Controversial ex-Ibrox star Steven Naismith has been left fuming at the penalty decision which kickstarted Rangers’ late show against Hearts.
The former Gers striker, 37, was speaking to the press after the 2-1 victory over the Jambos in Glasgow.
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Whilst Philippe Clement claims the result was “deserved” from a Rangers point of view, Steven Naismith reckons the entire thing hinged on the penalty call.
Lawrence Shankland’s 5th minute goal looked like proving the winner before Austrian midfielder Peter Haring pulled Connor Goldson to the floor at a corner.
VAR awarded the spot kick, James Tavernier equalised and then Brazilian striker Danilo won the day minutes later.
However, Steven Naismith reckons that far from be awarded a penalty, Rangers should’ve conceded a free-kick for blocking off Hearts players.
“The game hinges on the penalty for me,” said Naismith. “The whole outcome of the game hinges on the penalty decision. I don’t think it’s a penalty.
“I think the full game, every corner, there was blocking going on where Rangers players were not even interested in the ball.
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Whilst Philippe Clement claims the result was “deserved” from a Rangers point of view, Steven Naismith reckons the entire thing hinged on the penalty call.
Lawrence Shankland’s 5th minute goal looked like proving the winner before Austrian midfielder Peter Haring pulled Connor Goldson to the floor at a corner.
VAR awarded the spot kick, James Tavernier equalised and then Brazilian striker Danilo won the day minutes later.
However, Steven Naismith reckons that far from be awarded a penalty, Rangers should’ve conceded a free-kick for blocking off Hearts players.
“The game hinges on the penalty for me,” said Naismith. “The whole outcome of the game hinges on the penalty decision. I don’t think it’s a penalty.
“I think the full game, every corner, there was blocking going on where Rangers players were not even interested in the ball
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“All they were doing was looking at our man, blocking our players to stop them obviously losing their runners.
“To which I spoke to the officials during the game and said ‘look, if that happens will it be given a goal?’
“Lo and behold at the end of the game there’s a clear block on our man; John Lundstram isn’t even interested in the ball, all he’s doing is looking at our player.
“He blocks them and then (the penalty) gets given by VAR. I went and spoke to the referee and he says he was never shown any video footage of any blocking.
When pressed on the situation, Steven Naismith reiterated that Rangers player John Lundstram was blocking a Hearts star off at the corner.
The former Rangers striker also took aim at the decision to award the Ibrox side a penalty in the first half, with James Tavernier missing from the spot.
According to Naismith, this was into the 48th minute of the game and – despite the stonewaller nature of Tony Sibbick’s clumsy challenge on Todd Cantwell – took aim at John Beaton.
“I’m saying that the penalty that was given, there’s contact with our player as the ball is coming in, to stop him going to make contact with the ball by a Rangers player who is not interested in the ball,” said Naismith.
“Clear obstruction, clear blocking, should be a foul. Looking at VAR, if the ref gives a penalty, VAR should see that there is a foul happened before the two players made contact.
“(John Beaton) said he never seen any images of players getting blocked. He said he didn’t see that far back, but it’s pretty obvious to be honest.
“Then the penalty in the first half, there’s two minutes added on and it’s given in the 48th minute.
“Small details that have a big impact.
Rangers cut Celtic’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to five points with victory over Hearts at Ibrox.
Whilst Philippe Clement was left beaming after the result, Steven Naismith has been left sickened by the defining penalty call which kicked Rangers into life.
But whilst the Hearts boss might moan, Steven Naismith would probably do better to look at Austrian midfielder Peter Haring who hauled Rangers back into the game.
You’ll notice that the former Rangers star – who disgraced himself in the eyes of Ibrox supporters for claiming the club no longer existed in 2012 – doesn’t claim that either of his players are guilt-free.
You can moan about the referee all you want Steven, but the reality is that if your Hearts players had kept their concentration right up to the last you’d probably be walking out of Ibrox with three points.
As it transpired, it was an unhappy return to Rangers for the former Ibrox striker who won three league titles, one Scottish Cup and two League Cups during his time in Glasgow.
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