Late Rangers penalty denies St Mirren second Old Firm win of the season
dailyrecord.co.ukA dramatic late penalty denied St Mirren a second Old Firm win in the space of just three months. The Buddies looked set to pick up a hard-fought victory against Rangers after Jonah Ayunga's close-range effort put them ahead just after the half-time break.
VAR was to make yet another crucial intervention in Paisley, with referee Kevin Clancy initially deeming Ryan Kent to have dived in the Saints' box under pressure from Marcus Fraser.
After checking on the pitch-side monitor, the man in black changed his decision to allow James Tavernier to sweep home an equaliser from the spot.Despite the late disappointment the home support still celebrated the draw which saw them stretch their unbeaten home run to an impressive eight games heading into the long World Cup break.Qatar-bound Keanu Baccus was named among the Saints' substitutes, with Greg Kiltie keeping his place after his goalscoring efforts against St Johnstone.Robinson kept faith with the same front pairing that toppled Celtic 2-0 in September, with Ayunga and Curtis Main leading the line.St Mirren had an early shout for a penalty waved away as Kiltie was eased off the ball by James Sands.
Referee Clancy wasn't interested.Malik Tillman gave the hosts an early scare, dancing past Declan Gallagher before dragging a shot narrowly wide with the goal at his mercy.Alfredo Morelos blazed well over the bar on the ten-minute mark, with the Saints comfortable in the early stages.Scott Wright drew the first serious save from Trevor Carson, with the Buddies' number one pulling off a brilliant stop from the attacker's powerful header to deny Rangers an opener.Ryan Strain got the better of Kent on numerous occasions on the left wing to keep the visitors at bay, with the
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk