Hearts boss Steven Naismith questions ‘crazy’ refereeing decisions in Rangers Viaplay Cup semi-final defeat

Hearts boss Steven Naismith has questioned some of the refereeing decisions that went against his side during their Viaplay Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers at Hampden on Sunday.

The Jambos fell to a 3-1 defeat to Philippe Clement’s Gers at the National Stadium, but it was whistler Nick Walsh who would feel the raft of the Jambos boss following his team’s 3-1 defeat.

Rangers were awarded a penalty early in the second half when Danilo was fouled by Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark and James Tavernier converted to give the Ibrox club a slender lead before half-time replacement Scott Wright added a quickfire second minutes later. Tavernier’s stunning free-kick from the edge of the box put the game beyond doubt - with all three goals coming inside a 15-minute period.

Hearts then won a penalty of their own, but only after Walsh had initially brandished full-back Stephen Kingsley with a second yellow card for diving under Ben Davies’ challenge before overturning the decision after reviewing the incident on the pitchside VAR monitor. Lawrence Shankland slotted home what proved to be a consolation for the Edinburgh club.

Livid Naismith said: “We had a chance to get to a final and didn’t manage it so I’m really disappointed. The first half was cagey, we managed to regroup at half-time and talk about things we could do slightly better. The game changes on the penalty so quickly after half-time.

“Some people will say it was or it wasn’t a penalty but, as a forward, I think he (Danilo) anticipates the ball. As much as Zander is trying to get out of the way, his momentum takes him into his foot. If it was for us, I think I would be asking for it.

“The one thing I would add to that is I find it frustrating that the first thought for Celtic against us at Tynecastle was ‘penalty’, the first thought today was ‘penalty’, but for us the first thought was ‘red card’.”

Asked for his thoughts when Kingsley was shown a red card before Walsh reversed his initial decision, Naismith candidly replied: “Crazy. To think he would try to dive when the ball is miles away, going out of the park. He was never going to get a penalty for a dive. It’s just strange that that seems to happen and first thought is ‘red card’ when it is a clear kick.

“There have been a few penalties in recent weeks with that stamp on the foot, Aberdeen in Europe was one. Why was it not just penalty then we can review it? It was red card then we’ll review it, which was strange for me.”