Ex-Premier League referee insists Dessers' goal against Celtic should not have been disallowed 

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has questioned the decision to rule out Cyriel Dessers' goals for Rangers in their enthralling 3-3 draw with Celtic in a Scotland Premiership  encounter played on Sunday afternoon.

Three minutes before the hour mark and the scores at 2-1 in favor of Celtic, the Super Eagles forward fired Abdallah Sima's cut back pass into the net but the goal was ruled out by center referee John Beaton.

After consultation with the VAR, Beaton ruled out that Rangers' forward Tom Lawrence had fouled his Celtic counterpart Tomoki Iwata in the build-up to the goal.

Speaking about the incident, Gallagher agreed about the foul but maintained that the timing of the infringement shouldn't have affected the legitimacy of the goal.

"I don't think we'd argue it's a foul but is it re-refereeing? They travel a long way, they have a lot of time to reset." He told Sky Sports via The Scottish Sun.

"I know they don't get the ball back but the referee goes to the screen and decides it's a foul.

"I don't think there's any doubt it's a foul. It's a matter of whether that foul is in the immediate buildup? Is that foul in the attacking phase? VAR felt it was and sent John Beaton to the screen."

Dessers would go on to record an assist in the game, assisting Sima's for the second goal for the home side to record his first goal involvement against Celtic in the Scottish Premier League

After struggling in his first few months in front of goal, the 29-year-old is gradually finding his feet at Ibrox and is Rangers' second top scorer in the league, scoring 13 times so far.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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