Rangers: Steve McLean ‘red card’ error analysed as three St Mirren decisions scrutinised

Rangers secured a much-needed three points as they won 1-0 away at St Mirren on Sunday.

The Gers closed the gap to Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership table to just three points, after they tasted defeat against Kilmarnock in Saturday’s late kick-off.

Danny Rohl’s side laboured at times against their struggling hosts on Sunday, but Tuur Rommens’ composed finish at the back post in the 31st minute proved to be enough for them to get over the line.

This weekend’s results have seen the race to secure the league title grow even closer, with all of the top three now separated by just three points after the Ibrox outfit’s latest success.

Rangers beat St Mirren on a comfortable afternoon for Rohl’s men, but the same could not be said for referee Steven McLean.

Jacob Devaney lucky to escape Youssef Chermiti punishment

Nicolas Raskin was left fuming with McLean after he failed to provide further punishment to St Mirren midfielder Jacob Devaney for a foul on Youssef Chermiti in the 14th minute.

The hosts saw a corner headed away to the edge of the Rangers box, where Devaney attempted to flash a left-footed volley back into the danger zone.

However, the Manchester United mishit his effort, and barrelled into Chermiti after chasing the resulting loose ball.

Chermiti got to it first inside his own penalty area, and Devaney followed through and planted his studs into the ankle of the striker, in the sort of challenge that can often warrant a red card.

McLean immediately whistled for a free-kick, but saw no need to issue any sort of card for the challenge, while the incident was also not checked by the VAR team.

Devaney could certainly count himself to not have seen at least yellow for his tackle, and it was clear that Raskin shared a similar view, as he made a vociferous appeal to the referee.

Rangers denied penalty for handball

Former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness told Football Insider back in February that Raskin’s departure from Rangers may be inevitable if they fail to secure the Premiership title at the end of the season.

The Belgian showed his continued commitment to the cause again on Sunday, as he thought had grounds for a penalty in the 12th minute, as his header was blocked on route to goal following a Rangers corner.

The Belgian midfielder climbed highest to meet the delivery, only to see his effort blocked at point-blank range by Alex Gogic.

McLean waved away the initial appeals, before VAR also got involved, but swiftly decided against taking action following their review.

Rangers saw a handball decision go against them inside the box during their recent 2-2 draw with Celtic in the Premiership, and this incident was not too different from the one that saw Dujon Sterling punished on that occasion.

Gogic had little time to react to Raskin’s effort, but his arm was stretched away from his body, and on another day, a spot kick could easily have been awarded.

Connor Barron punished in soft free-kick

McLean set a precedent for physical play with his decisions throughout the game, but that changed in the latter stages when Connor Barron jumped for an aerial challenge against Killian Phillips in the 81st minute.

The Rangers substitute was faced with a severe height disadvantage against his opponent on that occasion, and as a result, he leant into his counterpart a little as the duo left the ground.

McLean had allowed countless challenges of a similar nature to go unpunished throughout the 90 minutes, but opted to penalise Barron on that occasion.

It was a decision that allowed St Mirren to alleviate all of the pressure that Rangers had built up as they pushed for an equaliser, and several of their players were quick to protest against the call.

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