John Souttar was penalised for a handball penalty in the first-half of the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16 tie in Lisbon.
In an eventual 2-2 draw, the penalty hauled Benfica back into the match when they were 1-0 down and Philippe Clement has spoken about the incident ahead of the second leg.
The Rangers manager claims that by the letter of the law, John Souttar should’ve never been penalised by the referee as he lamented the Benfica penalty.
Have a look at the incident below:
Referees get Rangers Benfica penalty call wrong
Speaking ahead of the highly-anticipated Europa League second leg at Ibrox, Philippe Clement took the chance to criticise the decision.
Specifically, the Rangers manager claims John Souttar shouldn’t have been penalised because the ball comes off his head and onto his arm.
This, according to Clement, should’ve seen the referee and VAR wave away Benfica’s claims for a penalty.
“Not only my players make mistakes but also the referee,” said Clement, when asked about mistakes his players made in the first leg.
“Because the first goal – and it was a pity I didn’t see that before the press conference – but if you hit the ball with your head against your arm, it’s not a penalty. So there was some help also from that side.”
What rule is Philippe Clement refereeing to?
Specifically, Philippe Clement was referring to the incorrect application of Law 12 of the IFAB rules.
According to the rules, it is NOT a handball if “the ball touches a player’s hand/arm immediately from their own head/body/foot or the head/body/foot of another player”.
John Souttar clearly headers the ball before it connects with his arm, which is raised inside the Benfica penalty area.
Whatever the case, the decision was made in the game and the match finished 2-2, setting up the return at Ibrox very nicely indeed.
It’s all set to be a cracker in Glasgow with some very positive injury news coming out of the Rangers camp ahead of the game.
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