It's arguably the fiercest battle in football and this Rangers vs Celtic instalment was no different as both sides went at it blood and thunder in search of victory.
John Lundstram's full-blooded tackle on Kyogo set the tone of battle in the chaotic cauldron of Scottish Cup semi-final battle. Referee Don Robertson had all of a few minutes to get into the middle man frame of mind after Willie Collum pulled up injured, but it was Rangers who weren't switched on as they went to sleep and allowed Jota free header to hand the Premiership champions a 1-0 half-time lead.
That was enough to see them into the final against Inverness and Robertson managed to make his way through proceedings without much fuss for him or VAR, outside one or two small moments through the 90+ minutes. Record Sport runs the rule over some of the big tackles and referee shout.
Lundstram on Kyogo
So this was full of force from the Rangers midfielder but not enough for Robertson to warrant it as anything more. He slid in on the wet Hampden surface and handed a free-kick to his rivals. It's been a spot of contentiou debate for fans on social media though, with many pointing it out as similar to the foul Graeme Shinnie made for Aberdeen in a recent Premiership fixture. And James Jeggo had similar with Hibs, but his was overturned.
So consistency appeared to be the main grip of punters. The description of serious foul play in the IFAB rule book states: "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play. Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."
Barisic on O'Riley
It was the first card of the game and Chris Sutton described it as 'wild' on commentary. The ball came to Matt O'Riley during a promising attack and Borna Barisic lunged in with little prospect of winning possession back looking likely. An easy first card of the game for Robertson to give, with it meeting the 'commits any other offence which interferes with or stops a promising attack' barometer.
Raskin on O'Riley
A bizarre moment that ultimately did the worst kind of damage for Rangers. As O'Riley looked to press his way into the Rangers danger area, Nicolas Raskin appeared to block him off. The arms of the Belgian were raised and it appeared as if those in blue were waiting for Robertson's whistle. He barely even made a flicker of movement, with no advantage signalled for either. It looked as if he didn't feel there was enough damage and Rangers went on to shoot themselves in the foot by not playing to the whistle, and O'Riley left glad his pleas for a foul went unanswered.,
Barisic 'dive'
This one split the co-commentary box in Mount Florida. Already on a booking for the offence above, the Croatian hit the floor under Kyogo's challenge. It wasn't given as a penalty by Robertson. Sutton said 'he has a little shift there and is he asking for a penalty, or did he dive, and if he dives it's a second yellow card. Ally McCoist knows it was a second yellow and off if it was a deliberate jump to the deck but he asked his colleague 'I am not sure he is looking for it Chris, is he?' To which the Record Sport columnist bluntly asked: "Really?"
Whether he did intentionally hit the ground or not, it certainly handed Robertson a decision to make. And he decided it wasn't.
Maeda on Cantwell
Some petulance perhaps from the Celtic winger later in the game. Cantwell wasn't anywhere near a dangerous area and he was sent tumbling to the ground by his opponent, with the playmaker soon receiving a yellow himself for a failed swipe on Sead Haksabanovic. Both had Robertson reaching for the notebook quickly.
