Philippe Clement was left raging over yet another decision after Hibs were awarded a penalty he insists should never have been as Rangers dropped yet more points on the road in the Scottish Premiership in a six-goal thriller at Easter Road.
Hamza Igamane netted a treble but it wasn’t enough as the Light Blues were held in Leith and Clement was furious over John Beaton’s decision to award the home side a spot kick after Ianis Hagi was penalised for a foul on Josh Campbell inside the box, allowing Martin Boyle to score his second of the game and level.
But the Belgian insists it should never have been a penalty as the decision was added to the one last month when Rangers were denied a penalty in the Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic. Igamane did restore the visitors’ lead but Rocky Bushiri’s bullet header from a corner earned David Gray’s men a point.
Raging Clement told Sky Sports: “I’m very disappointed about conceding a penalty like that. It was a collision of two players with their hips against each other. You can’t say one player made a foul and the other didn’t. It was just a collision and Ianis was maybe even a little bit in front and the other players’s legs went around him.
“It was a game decisive moment and it’s really sore to have that again against you. I wanted to hear the referee’s thoughts on why he gave it because it’s never a penalty for me. The referee had a different view and that’s it.
“It’s important to ask for an explanation because I have to explain to the players why it’s a penalty and if these things happen in the future why it will be given. Ianis was on the wrong side but it’s not enough. They both collided into each other.
“I’m sure VAR will say it’s not clear or obvious so maybe it’s better for the referee not to make the decision but he was clearly very confident. I’m curious to see what the panel will say about it because if these are penalties every time then I have to tell my players to go down every time there is contact in the box – and I don’t want that because that’s not how football should be played.
“We know the situation we are in with so many defenders out injured. We were the better team and had to get the points and it’s hard to lose the duel at the last goal. It’s about managing the game but we have to talk about the important moments as well such as the penalty. We need to continue working with the team. Other people need to be clear about what penalties are because they don’t understand how it can be a penalty. We need to win the duel at the corner as well. That’s clear.”
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