Former referee Chris Foy has had his say on Celtic’s late penalty which saw them draw level with Rangers

Rangers and Celtic were forced to share the spoils in a tense Old Firm battle on Sunday, as the Hoops came from 2-0 down to earn a point at Ibrox which leaves both clubs floundering in the Scottish Premiership title race.

Both Old Firm rivals could ill afford to lose the derby but were in need of a win to close the gap on leaders Hearts. As it stands, the deficit second-place Rangers have to make up is six points – thanks to a controversial late penalty awarded to Celtic after a Dujon Sterling handball in the box. Rangers had threatened to go out of sight thanks to two Youssef Chermiti goals in the first half, including a stunning bicycle kick to open the scoring. Kieran Tierney got one back after the break, before Reo Hatate equalised at the third attempt after seeing both his penalty and the rebound saved by Jack Butland.

The penalty was given after Sterling was adjudged by VAR to have blocked the ball with his arm from an unnatural position, as Daizen Maeda’s header bulleted towards goal. The late drama deprived Rangers of all three points – and led to much debate after the full-time whistle.

Ex-referee Chris Foy debates penalty decision with Ally McCoist

Speaking on talkSPORT, former Rangers striker Ally McCoist and ex-Premier League referee Chris Foy debated the awarding of the penalty which would ultimately decide the outcome at Ibrox.

McCoist began by telling Foy: “Before we go any further – people think I’m jumping on the bandwagon – Celtic deserved their point.

“Their second-half performance was much better than their first-half performance – but I want to talk specifically about the incident. I think it’s extremely harsh, Chris. I understand why they’ve given it, but his hand, for me, is in a natural position, the forward heads the ball off Sterling’s hand, and he gives a penalty. Is that the correct decision?”

Foy replied: “Yeah, I watched this yesterday and I looked at it about four or five times. I wasn’t sure, and when they went for a VAR intervention, I was quite surprised as I couldn’t actually see that the handball [had] occurred.

“When I looked at it again, the arm is clearly away from the body there, Ally. I wasn’t surprised when the referee went over to the monitor and turned the decision over and actually give a penalty kick on that one.”

McCoist interjected: “It’s away from the body, Chris, but it’s in a natural position, mate.”

Foy added: “How are you jumping in that situation, Ally? How are you challenging with your arm away?”

McCoist said: “Because that’s the way footballers [jump]. Footballers put their arms in positions when they’re jumping and moving. His arm, and nobody will convince me otherwise, that his arm is in a totally natural position. What we’re asking players to do, now, is put their arms in an unnatural position and keep them at their side. You can’t do that.”

Penalty call decisive in dramatic Old Firm draw

The decision to award Celtic a late penalty will have left a sour taste in the mouth of Gers fans, frustrated that their side were unable to hold onto a deserved first-half lead after Celtic came into the ascendency after the break.

Rangers boss Danny Rohl told Sky Sports on whether the penalty should have been awarded: "Maybe, maybe not, I think it is not really my part. The important thing is that every week you have good decision-making and today and last week were against us, but this is football."