That’s a Glasgow derby everyone wants to quickly forget.
Celtic recorded a goalless draw against Rangers on Sunday at Ibrox, in what was a hopeless and abject performance from both sides.
There were several debuts on show, including Brendan Rodgers handing Michel-Ange Balikwisha his first start following his recent transfer from Royal Antwerp.
Balikwisha played just over an hour before being substituted for James Forrest, without causing any real problems to Rangers’ backline.
The 24-year-old was up against James Tavernier, and there was one call in the first half that left Celtic fans pretty frustrated.
- READ MORE: Who is Celtic star Michel-Ange Balikwisha? Meet the winger tracked by the club for over a year
Celtic fans fume at Michel-Ange Balikwisha’s supposed foul on Rangers defender James Tavernier
Don Robertson was the man in the middle and the one in charge of proceedings, as he adjudged that Balikwisha fouled Tavernier following a ball over the top from Arne Engels in the first half.
In a game of very few chances, this was the first time Celtic’s new boy had gone through on goal from the left-hand side, but he was stopped by the referee.
As mentioned by the Celtic Park faithful, it was a ‘nothing’ foul, and the wrong call was made.
@Davyjrob67 welcomed Celtic’s new signing to Scottish football: ‘That Tavernier dive for a foul is peak Scottish refereeing. Welcome to Scottish fitba Balikwisha.’
@Dheano could only laugh it off: ‘Their disallowed goal came from the ball being trapped in Ralston’s legs – it was trapped for half a second. Tavernier falls into Balikwisha when we’re through on goal, Rangers free kick. Other than a ten-minute spell in the middle of the half, we’ve been so poor.’
@celtic_thoughts listed the referee’s poor calls: ‘Don Robertson with some questionable calls as usual. Engles being manhandled on the edge of the box. Daizen being bear hugged by Djiga, trying to make a run in behind. Tavernier non-foul when Balikwisha was in. What chance have you got.’
Another Celtic fan rightfully calling out the foul against Balikwisha: ‘Tavernier running backwards into Balikwisha, falls over, Rangers free kick. Wee Don doing his duty.’
Another fan who could only laugh at the ref’s call: ‘Balikwisha standing still, Tavernier falls down. Free kick Rangers.’
Another brilliant summary, this time from @Champions_67: ‘Balikwisha through on goal. Robertson says that’s not allowed because Tav flew in the air screaming after mistiming the header. Free-kick to Rangers.’
@sdceltic1 didn’t pull any punches: ‘Don Robertson .. 12th man …’
@mikeymclean1987 described it as a ‘shambles’: ‘Doesn’t help that the referee is giving them a foul every time they fall over. That one on Tavernier at the end was a complete shambles.’
Rangers and Celtic foul stats during drab goalless draw
It was a cagey game, a lot of it played in the middle of the game, with not much happening, and several crunching tackles going in.
The irony of the supposed foul on Tavernier is that there were several crunching tackles throughout the 90 minutes, and the referee waved play on, yet the Rangers skipper backing up on Celtic’s winger in slow motion was deemed a foul.
This was how the referee called the game, in terms of fouls and yellow cards:
- Celtic’s fouls: 17
- Rangers’ fouls: 17
- Celtic’s yellow cards: 0
- Rangers’ yellow cards: 3
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