David Martindale criticises the Rangers VAR goal and says the Celtic victory strengthened the Ibrox team.

According to David Martindale, the early kickoff on Saturday did not aid his Livingston squad; rather, the 1-1 tie gave Ibrox “huge energy” to score a 3-0 victory against his club.

As the battle for the championship heats up, the Rangers had an opportunity to close the gap to three points with a game remaining after the Hoops could only force a draw in Granite City. Even though they struggled for the opening thirty minutes against bottom team Livi, it looked certain that they would win, and a goal from Fabio Silva opened the floodgates for the eventual thumping by the Light Blues.

Martindale deemed the goal incorrect; it was reviewed by VAR, who determined that Connor Goldson’s challenge with David Carson was justified. This set off a disastrous run for the Lions, who are now nine points from safety and six points out of the relegation play-off zone. However, Martindale says that neither Celtic nor VAR was of any assistance to him as his team lost its fourth straight game.

He stated, “I think there’s a decision for VAR,” to BBC Sportsound. I believe Goldson hits David Carson in the thigh after leaping in with his feet high. David can’t run after the ball because of his high feet, but he catches him when he comes back down. We were quite taken aback, to be honest, even though his goal isn’t to intercept their players but rather attempt to make touch with the ball.

“Very shocked that the goal held, and the fans gained a lot of energy at that time. Both you and the Rangers experience a tremendous surge in energy. We had to cope with it, of course, because of other outcomes, like Celtic losing at Aberdeen. I believe that had a significant effect on how they began the game. We had to withstand the storm, and I believe we handled it quite effectively.

“The guys adhered to their routine, pushing themselves when necessary and letting up when necessary. I don’t believe Shamal [George] had much of an impact until the corner kick, at which point I’m not sure if the goal should have counted or not.

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