VAR CONTROVERSY: Philippe Clement raises objection to Rangers player Abdallah Sima disallowed goal vs Celtic F.C in the Scottish cup final

Celtic beat Rangers at Hampden Park and won the Scottish Cup thanks to a late goal by Adam Idah. Abdallah Sima’s opener for Rangers was called off by VAR because Nicolas Raskin pushed Celtic goalie Joe Hart. Philippe Clement, Rangers’ manager, says the foul is “grey area.”

Philippe Clement, the manager of Rangers, says that Abdallah Sima’s goal that was called off in their loss to Celtic in the Scottish Cup final was not “black or white,” but a “grey area.”

When it came to Hampden Park, Celtic beat their rivals thanks to Adam Idah’s goal in the 90th minute. However, Rangers had a goal called out after VAR checked it.

In the 59th minute, Sima scored from James Tavernier’s corner kick, but referee Nick Walsh looked at the video monitor on the field and ruled that the goal was not valid because Nicolas Raskin had pushed Celtic goalie Joe Hart.

Before the incident, Rangers had a penalty claim turned down in the first half because Liam Scales pushed Dujon Sterling over in the box, which Clement thought was a clearer case of penalty.

Clement wasn’t ready to blame his own goalie Jack Butland for letting Idah score the winning goal after Bernardo’s shot was blocked.

“No, I don’t think so,” he answered when asked if Butland was to blame. “That’s a really tough shot. Later in the game, Jack and Joe Hart both played really well. He could have pushed the ball to the side, but it was already moving. “That is a bad time.”

“If I equate with the push that [Liam] Scales provides to [Dujon] Sterling in the first half, it’s a much greater push than what happened with Joe Hart,” Clement added.

As I watch all of the Celtic players grab my players around the neck and waist, I think it would be a very bad decision to rule that goal out.

“It’s the officials’ choice, and they’re honest about it.” “That one isn’t black or white; it’s unclear.”

Clement said that the other team agreed that Rangers were the better team after putting them under more and more pressure in the second half.

“The overall thought is that you’re disappointed that you lost since even people of Celtic were saying we were the better team today,” he told us. I know you’re upset because you worked so hard to win, but I’m also proud of what the team has done.

🔵 “It’s a really big call to disallow that goal…”

Rangers manager Philippe Clement unhappy at Abdallah Sima’s disallowed goal in their Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic as he says they were the “better team” pic.twitter.com/y8vQBvTPdz

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 25, 2024

“They got two shots on goal, scored a goal, and we had six shots on goal.” In that situation, we need to score. Then there’s the sadness of scoring a goal only to have it ruled out.

The manager of Rangers said that his team should have won the game for them in the second half but that their players weren’t sharp enough, which held them back.

“I needed more from my players because you feel in that instant you’re grabbing the game and there was a lot of space in the movements and we didn’t kill it off there,” said he.

The players understand my point of view because you have asked a lot of questions about the problems. While some players are still recovering from injuries, the team is not at its best right now. You can see that a really fit Sima or Rabbi Matondo will finish off one of those chances in the last few seconds. That’s not what happened.

“There’s one small thing and one big choice to make.” We were the better team at that point, but if you go ahead 1-0, you beat us. We probably couldn’t have done much more. We could have done some things better, but our opponents could have done the same. I doubt they were ready for this kind of game.