Bobby Madden Confirms John Beaton Error That Should Have Reduced Rangers to 10 Men

John Beaton should have reduced Rangers to ten men during Sunday’s derby at Celtic Park, according to former Scottish FA referee Bobby Madden.

Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez was booked after only four minutes for hauling down Camilo Duran as the Celtic attacker attempted to break towards goal.

The incident sparked a heated touchline exchange between Mark Fotheringham and Derek McInnes, but the officials decided that Duran was moving towards the right rather than directly at goal. Fernandez was therefore shown yellow rather than red.

However, he was fortunate to remain on the pitch following another incident just 12 minutes later.

 

Fernandez stepped out of defence and bundled Benjamin Nygren over after the Celtic midfielder had played the ball beyond him. Beaton allowed play to continue, believing the Rangers player had won the ball.

Fernandez stepped out of defence and bundled Benjamin Nygren over after the Celtic midfielder had played the ball beyond him. Beaton allowed play to continue, believing the Rangers player had won the ball.

 

Chris Sutton immediately described the challenge as “reckless” and called Fernandez a “lucky boy”.

 

Now, Madden has also concluded that Beaton made the wrong decision.

Analysing the incident on Instagram, Madden said: “Fernandez, who was cautioned in the fourth minute, [committed] this offence in the 16th minute of the game.

 

“If we look at this situation in isolation, the attacker plays the ball beyond Fernandez and you can see that this is a clear promising attack.

 

“Listed within the cautions for unsporting behaviour is stopping a promising attack.

 

“During the match, the referee did not award a free-kick for this offence. If he had, the yellow card for stopping a promising attack should have been issued.

 

“We need to remember that VAR cannot get involved with issuing a second yellow card.”

That final point is important. Once Beaton decided Fernandez had not committed a foul, the video assistant referee could not intervene simply to recommend a second booking.

 

The decision rested entirely with the on-field official, and Madden believes he got it wrong.

 

His verdict may carry additional interest among Celtic supporters given that the former referee has previously spoken about regularly attending Ibrox during his childhood.

 

Celtic were poor and cannot blame Beaton for their 1-0 defeat. Martin O’Neill’s side did not produce enough quality to deserve anything from the match.