Gerrard: Ref was ‘desperate’ to whip out his red card
● Morelos dismissed for provocative gesture to Well fans – and is then targeted by missiles ● Boss: Officials should take abuse into account
Steven Gerrard accused referee Don Robertson of being “desperate” to whip out his red card in Rangers’ 2-0 win at Motherwell. The Ibrox manager made the claim after striker Alfredo Morelos was dismissed for the first time this season moments after scoring the visitors’ second goal.
The Colombian received his usual abuse from the terraces but got his own back when he followed up Nikola Katic’s firsthalf opener to put Rangers 2-0 up. But he was then shown a second yellow for aiming an inflammatory gesture at the Well fans in the East Enclosure during his celebrations.
The home side could yet find themselves in trouble after the Motherwell support responded by raining a number of objects down on the Rangers players as they tried to move Morelos away.
The dismissal brought the 23-year-old’s crime count for the season to seven bookings and one red card from 33 games for his club, which compares favourably to the 19 bookings and five red cards he received in 49 appearances for Rangers in 2018/19.
Gerrard, who will fine More lo sf or the dismissal, hopes that yesterday’s incident is merely a blip but also suggested that allowances could have been made by Robertson for the abuse Morelos takes from opposing supporters when he showed him a second yellow card for scoring the clinching goal in Rangers’ victory, a strike he celebrated by running to the most vocal home fans and making a provocative gesture.
“Well, it’s the first setback he’s had after huge, huge improvements, so we’ll reset that but we certainly have no complaints,” said Gerrard. “Unfortunately, the supporters and his team-mates will suffer because he’s not available for the next game.”
Gerrard argued that, having taken stick from the stands, it’s unsurprising that players may wish to return the compliments on occasion. Morelos’s response saw lighters, coins and a cup of Bovril being thrown on to the pitch. “I think officials need to take that into consideration at times,” said Gerrard.
“There had been a bit of a commotion at half-time between both sets of players, although there wasn’t much in it.
“However, when I saw the referee book Ryan Jack and Declan Gallagher before the start of the second half [for their part in it], I thought that he was waiting for a moment.
“As I said, we have no complaints about the red card but I felt he [Robertson] was desperate to give out a red card today. I had that feeling from the side, which is unfortunate because our player does get