Celtic were roundly and soundly beaten by Rangers in the Glasgow Derby last weekend.
Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute of the game, Celtic couldn’t finish Rangers off in a first half that should have put the result out of sight.
Rangers bounced back in the second half and with one simple change, Danny Rohl dismantled Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic tactics in fifteen minutes to overturn the lead, and then eventually win the game 3-1.
The result angered Celtic supporters as they demonstrated outside the stadium at full time but could the game have gone differently had Rangers been reduced to ten men for an elbow on Arne Engels?
Dermot Gallagher’s verdict on Rangers elbow on Celtic’s Arne Engels
It seems that the general consensus is that the elbow happened, was missed by the match officials but wasn’t enough to send Emmanuel Fernandez off at Celtic Park as Dermot Gallagher delivers his verdict on the elbow on Arne Engels.
Gallagher said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, “I thought yellow card. I don’t think he swings an elbow. He’s almost pushing him off isn’t he?
“He feels him and he’s trying to get him off his back. But it’s not as if he’s fired it off as a weapon. I will say, in fairness, I did think the referee handled this game really, really well.
“I’ll give you a good clue for a weapon elbow. When you go like that, your hand is open. If you go to elbow somebody, you always close your fist.
“I think you use it as a weapon. A referee taught me that years ago said that’s, that’s one of the biggest [clues], it’s not in tablets of stone, but it’s a good indicator of what’s happened.”
Do agree with Dermot Gallagher’s verdict on the elbow on Arne Engels? Let us know in the comments.
Dermot Gallagher backs up Mark Clattenburg on Celtic elbow row
To get a perspective from someone with no skin in Scottish football, 67 Hail Hail asked Mark Clattenburg for his view on the Rangers defender’s elbow on the Celtic midfielder.
Clattenburg told us, “Rangers Emmanuel Fernandez catches Celtic’s Arne Engels in the face with his elbow.
“Referees look for the difference of using his arm as a tool or weapon when Fernandez is fighting for the ball with the difference being a clenched fist which creates power and malice and an open hand which lacks either.
“When I look at this loose elbow, the open hand is present so lacks malice and force needed to reach the criteria of a red card.
“A yellow card should have been issued and was missed by the match officials.”
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