Fuming Livingston boss bemused by Abdallah Sima ‘clear push’ in Rangers defeat as he questions VAR call

Livingston manager David Martindale was left bemused that Abdallah Sima’s opener for Rangers in their 4-0 Viaplay Cup quarter-final win at Ibrox should have been ruled out for a foul in the lead up to the goal.

The furious Lions boss insists Sima was guilty of a “clear push” on defender Jamie Brandon on the left-hand side of the box, but referee Willie Collum allowed play to continue and the Brighton loanee curled an effort past visiting keeper Shamal George in the first half.

VAR operator Nick Walsh backed Collum’s onfield call with no review conducted of the intial decision. And Martindale wasn’t holding back as he reviewed the flashpoint, admitting he couldn’t help but feel the outcome might not have been the same had it been his team that had scored.

“I’ll be honest, I think the first goal’s a foul,” Martindale told BBC Sportsound in his post-match interview. “I’ve watched it back myself and it’s clear hands on - it’s not a huge push but there’s a push in the player’s back.

“The player’s running and he’s a wee bit off balance with the momentum and if you get a push, you’re going to fall. For the life of me, I don’t know how we haven’t got a foul. The first goal hurts us, it spooks us.

“I’m disappointed because I thought there’d be a VAR check because it’s in the phase of play that led to a goal. My understanding is it doesn’t need to be clear and obvious. I thought that would be overturned but it didn’t.”

Asked whether he would contact the Scottish FA to demand an explanation over the decision, he replied: “I’ll be honest, I don’t think anyone goes out to make bad decisions. You’re using technology to try and get decisions right and football’s all about opinions, eh? It comes down to the opinions of those people making the decisions, sometimes they fall in your favour and sometimes they don’t.

“Ibrox away, quarter-final, pfft... I’ve not seen many of those given if I’m honest. I stand here looking at it probably from a negative point of view thinking if that was our goal, I’m not so sure.... that’s how it feels when you come to the big venues.

“I don’t think any officials go out to get it wrong, it’s their opinion of it but I can’t believe it’s not a foulr. I’ll not be contacting anyone and complaining to be gonest, it is what it is and we need to get on with it.”