Rangers star 'very lucky' to avoid red card vs Celtic as saving grace named after playing risky game
Rangers had a star walking the red card tightrope up against Celtic.
Andy Halliday reckons Emmanuel Fernandez was fortunate not to pick up a second yellow card in Rangers’ win at Celtic.
Ryan Naderi’s first half strike sealed Premiership success for boss Derek McInnes but it came after nervy moments for centre-back Fernandez. He was booked after just four minutes for hauling down Camilo Duran and Parkhead erupted when Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren was stopped in his tracks by the Ibrox star.
Ex-Light Blues midfielder Halliday believes Fernandez was playing a risky game. He told Sportsound: “I don't think you can have any complaints if he's given a second yellow card. I think when you watch it back, I think Nygren tries to kick it inside and they run into each other. Sometimes it's not a yellow, sometimes it is, but I think he's very lucky in that moment in time.
Could Rangers star have been sent off vs Celtic?
“The only thing I think that saved him is how early it is in the game and that he's already done a booking. I think if that's in the 80th minute, I think it’s a second yellow. He probably wasn't asked, because I'm sure if Martin O’Neill was asked, I think he would have took the opportunity to talk about it.”
Halliday added on the game overall: “The second half was even better than the first from Rangers. Complete control, waves of attack. It wasn't until probably the last five, 10 minutes when Celtic started to put Rangers under any pressure.
“I honestly don't think I've ever seen a Rangers team go to Celtic Park and get so many easy touches of the ball. So similar to last week. Celtic, they just don't tackle anymore. They don't get close to people, they don't make contact.”
Derek McInnes on Celtic 0-1 Rangers
McInnes said of his side’s win: "It's such an important win for us. To follow it up on the back of last week was really important for us. In the context of the season, it's just three points and it gets us three points closer to Celtic so we understood if we lost the game, that distance just starts to feel uncomfortable for us. We knew the importance of the game.
"I'm enjoying watching my team. I like putting my name to this team at the minute and I think we've got a good thing going but we know how quickly that can change so we just try to keep those bad days to a minimum."
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