Emmanuel Fernandez: Ex-Rangers star addresses controversial penalty call in win over St Mirren

Former Scotland midfielder Andy Halliday has weighed in on the controversial penalty decision involving Super Eagles defender Emmanuel Fernandez during Rangers’ 1-0 win over St Mirren on Wednesday, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Light Blues recorded a fourth consecutive league victory at Ibrox as they continued their impressive recovery after a slow start to the campaign.

Rangers had previously recorded wins over Aberdeen, Falkirk and Motherwell, making it three straight league victories before Wednesday’s clash. The run has seen them gradually move back towards the top of the standings and into the title race.

A late goal from Bojan Miovski sealed maximum points for Derek McInnes’ side against St Mirren, lifting Rangers into second place in the standings.

They are now five points behind league leaders Celtic and one point above third-placed Hearts, who have a game in hand.

Andy Halliday questions penalty incident involving Emmanuel Fernandez

Fernandez was involved in one of the most controversial incidents of the night during Rangers’ victory. The incident occurred in the first half when the Nigerian defender challenged St Mirren forward Ismaël Kabia inside the Rangers penalty area.

The Super Eagles defender appeared to bring down Kabia with a clumsy challenge, but the referee waved away St Mirren’s appeals and decided not to award a penalty. The game remained goalless until Miovski scored the late winner to give Rangers all three points.

Speaking after the match, Halliday admitted that the referee may have missed the decision in real time but insisted that St Mirren should have been awarded a penalty.

“Undoubtedly for me. Dujon Sterling drops his runner and Kabia gets in the wrong side of him”, Halliday said post-match.

“I think you can forgive a referee for not seeing this in live time because there wasn’t much appeal from the St Mirren players.

“But there’s no doubt in my mind here that it isn’t Kabia who initiates contact. It’s Fernandez.

“I can forgive referees for not picking that up in live scenarios but VAR has got to pick those scenarios up. I think St Mirren have to get a penalty there.”

Fernandez has been criticised for his performance in the clash, which was considered an underwhelming display from the Super Eagles defender.

The Nigerian will now be hoping to produce a much-improved performance when Rangers face Celtic in the Scottish League Cup quarter-final on Sunday.