Nigerian striker Cyriel Dessers has responded to a controversial penalty incident in Rangers’ Europa League loss to Athletic Bilbao, insisting that the decision by the referee was incorrect.
The contentious moment occurred in the 16th minute when Dessers’ shirt was ripped by Athletic Bilbao defender Dani Vivian in an attempt to win the ball. Despite protests by the visitors, Referee Irfan Peljto decided not to award a penalty and VAR Paul van Boekel concluded that it was not worthy of review.
Athletic Bilbao went on to score the game’s opening goal few seconds before half time through Oihan Sancet’s penalty before Nico Williams sealed the win with a point-blank header, sending the Basque side through to the semi-final.
The ball gets deflected into the box, I wanted to make a run to it and I thought I could get to it, [but] my shirt got pulled,” Dessers said after the game. “Even if there’s doubt, you can look at the shirt . I think it’s a game-changer. But OK, that’s football. We were on the wrong side of it. It hurts.”
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Dessers added that Vivian himself admitted it should have been a penalty: “I got the yellow card because I came back onto the pitch. I have no real explanation for that. After that, he [the referee] was kind to me, he showed some compassion as well. I spoke to the defender [Vivian] after, he admitted it was a penalty.”
Captain James Tavernier revealed what the referee said to him about the penalty appeal: “He [the referee] said there was little in it,” said the skipper. “But you saw his top, and it was ripped. It’s one of those, it goes for you or it goes against you. I’ve got to give the boys credit for the energy they put into the game.”
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