IT WAS RIGHT CALL
No gripes from McInnes over Hedges sending-off
DEREK McINNES admitted that referee John Beaton was left with no alternative over the straight red card which forced Aberdeen to face Rangers with ten men for over an hour. Ryan Hedges (left) was sent off for failing to make a genuine attempt to play the ball as he clipped Alfredo Morelos in the 27th minute of Rangers’ 2-1 win at Pittodrie. James Tavernier missed the resultant penalty but Morelos went on to score twice, with Matty Kennedy pulling one back f or the Dons in a second-half fightback. Mc Inn es sought an explanation from the official at half-time, but the Aberdeen manager conceded that he changed his mind over the sending-off decision after Beaton clarified the current rules. ‘The wee give and go for the penalty, we probably don’t deal with that as well
as we should have and the game turns on the red-card decision,’ said McInnes. ‘My feeling at the time was Ryan Hedges did everything he could not to make the challenge. He didn’t want to run into the back of Morelos and, as a consequence, we knew Morelos would get his shot away. You can see it with Hedges’ body movement. ‘The irony is, if he had actually made an attempt and swiped him down and not won the ball he would have got a yellow card and we could have continued to play with 11 men. ‘It seems a really unfair outcome, but John Beaton explained it to me at half-time. He said: “I’ve nowhere to go with this”. ‘I know it was accidental, but because it wasn’t a genuine attempt it has to be a red card. Once he explained it, you have to say it was the right decision, based on the laws.’
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard felt Aberdeen could have finished the first half with nine men for Curtis Main’s aggressive challenge on Borna Barisic. With Rangers players irate, McInnes removed the Englishman (below) moments later in a tactical tweak — but insisted a yellow card was the right decision. ‘Everyone is getting their knickers in a twist about it, but it was a yellow card and no more,’ said McInnes. ‘He goes in too aggressively, so it’s a booking, but he hasn’t hurt the boy. The referee made the right decision. ‘We were thinking of taking Curtis off anyway because we wanted a bit more speed in and around Sam Cosgrove. ‘He was in there to do a specific job off (Steven) Davis and use the speed of Hedges and (Scott) Wright, but when Hedges went off we wanted to make the change. ‘It was one we were going to make, but the challenge may have accelerated that.’