Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has insisted that Rangers defender James Tavernier was at fault for conceding the free-kick which led to the Dons’ winner on Sunday.
Just when it looked like the game at Pittodrie was heading towards a 1-1 draw after Andy Halliday’s 79th minute penalty cancelled out Jonny Hayes’ opener, Tavernier fouled Aberdeen’s goalscorer in a dangerous position with just one minute of normal time remaining.
The Rangers players and manager Mark Warburton were visibly unhappy with the decision as they felt Tavernier got the ball first, but the referee waved away the protests and awarded the home team a free-kick.
James Maddison coverted the free-kick in spectacular fashion to hand Aberdeen a memorable 2-1 win over Rangers.
And McInnes, who feels Tavernier should accept some blame for the free-kick as the full-back found himself in a bad position, went on to add that Aberdeen were also not pleased with some of the decisions of the referee.
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“I think Tavernier gets himself in a bad position”, he was quoted as saying by the Herald Scotland.
“He then has to tackle and it’s a wee bit desperate from behind. I’ve not seen it again, but my first thought was that it was a free-kick.
“If they’re unhappy it’s maybe because they’ve seen it again and maybe he did touch the ball. But he was in a poor position to start with.
“When you go to ground – like Jonny [Hayes] did at their penalty when he brings [Lee] Wallace down – you’re playing with fire.
“We still had to produce the goal. And there were a lot of challenges I wasn’t too pleased with that we didn’t get. But I can understand, because it’s been compounded with a winning goal, that they’re more upset.”
While Rangers slipped down to the bottom half of the Scottish Premiership, the win helped Aberdeen to climb up to second spot in the table.
