Livingston were guilty of not being streetwise enough against a ruthless Rangers side at the Tony Macaroni Arena, according to the Sportscene pundits.
A James Tavernier double and Kemar Roofe's late goal settled a 3-0 win for the Light Blues, with David Martindale's Lions reduced to 10 men in the second half when Stephane Omeonga was dismissed for a second booking. Talking points arose over the penalty which the Rangers captain scored in the first half, VAR deeming James Penrice to have pulled on Alfredo Morelos' shirt, the Colombian tumbling to the floor not spotted by referee David Dickinson.
Then Omeonga's second yellow brought some scepticism from Livi boss David Martindale after a trip on Roofe as the away side maintained their unbeaten Premiership record under Beale. The Sportscene panel of Scotland legend James McFadden and Rangers hero Neil McCann pored over the two big decisions, with the former wondering why both Almondvale men put themselves in the position to have a book thrown at them. McFadden explained: "David Martindale is disappointed and I can see both sides of it. Not every shirt pull results in a foul but it's crazy to put yourselves in that situation from James Penrice. Morelos isn't going to win the ball and I don't think it is impeding him in any way.
"Especially with VAR, you are giving the referee another look, and for me it is an easier one to give that not when you see how blatant the shirt pull is. Then there's the other one, where David's spoke about maybe Roofe initiating the contact.
"It is one of them, I think the yellow is because he's stopping a promising attack, I think that is why it is a yellow card. Now, he is trying to pull out and you could make the argument that Roofe is trying to initiate contact.
"The decision by Omeonga, you can't go back to VAR to look at yellow cards. So for me, I understand the frustration, but you need to understand the situation you are in."
McCann was on a similar wavelength and admitted confusion over the Belgian's train of thought. Penrice's shirt pull, however, brought up thoughts on the ongoing VAR debate.
He said: "I don't think he has to come across anyway as Nicky Devlin is facing up. For some unknown reason, he just takes a rush of energy and blood to the head and tears after him, there is contact there.
"I think the unfortunate thing for Omeonga is he's trying to pull out as he knows he can't get to it but the contact is made. I don't think you can argue that it's a free kick, he's stopping a promising play, so it is a second yellow.
"The one on Morelos, the interesting one for me is we talk about VAR all the time. This is a decision made by Andrew Dallas in the VAR room.
"The referee's position is wide left and the assistant can't see with James Penrice's back so that has been brought across for the referee to have a look at. And it has worked.
"I agree with James' point that although it probably doesn't affect him too much, it does kind of impede on his jump. It's a silly mistake from Penrice but that is why VAR is there, as it's spotted an obvious mistake the referee hasn't picked up on."
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