Rangers receive fresh foul verdict over incident before Dundee goal as VAR decision angers players.

Dundee have been handed a fresh verdict over their controversial foul appeal during Rangers’ first goal at Dens Park, with pundits insisting there was not enough contact to overturn the strike.

The Dark Blues were furious with the officials during Saturday evening’s dramatic encounter after they believed Joe Bevan had been brought down in the build-up to Badredine Bouanani’s equaliser.

Dundee players immediately surrounded referee Duncan Nicholson, claiming Rangers defender Olwethu Makhanya had tripped Bevan before the ball eventually found its way to Bouanani. However, VAR official Matthew McDermid reviewed the incident and decided there was insufficient evidence to recommend that Nicholson revisit his original decision.

Dundee’s Joe Bevan goes down under Rangers pressure

The outcome has now been backed by several former players and pundits, although there was some disagreement over whether the challenge could have been given as a foul had the referee initially awarded it.

Dramatic Night at Dens Park

Saturday’s match provided plenty of drama as Rangers and Dundee traded goals throughout an entertaining contest.

The hosts struck first when Bradley Fink capitalised on some poor defending from Rangers to put Dundee ahead. Derek McInnes’ side would have been hoping to protect that advantage, but Rangers responded when Bouanani fired home to restore parity.

The visitors then completed the turnaround after Nico Raskin produced an outstanding strike from around 30 yards, giving Rangers the lead in the second half.

However, Dundee refused to surrender. Dan Neil made a costly error by giving possession away to Callum Jones near the edge of the penalty area, allowing the Dundee attacker to finish and bring the hosts level once again.

The final score meant Rangers dropped valuable points in their pursuit of the Premiership summit.

Dundee Furious Over Equaliser

Badredine Bouanani celebrates scoring Rangers’ equaliser(Image: Andrew Milligan/the Press Association)

Despite the quality of the goals scored, the biggest talking point after the match centred on the incident immediately before Bouanani’s goal.

Dundee believed Bevan had been fouled by Makhanya as the pair contested possession. Bevan went to ground, and the home players immediately appealed to Nicholson.

The referee allowed play to continue, however, and Rangers eventually moved the ball forward before Bouanani produced the finish that levelled the contest.

The decision was subsequently checked by VAR, with McDermid reviewing the incident from the VAR room. Despite the Dundee protests, the official decided there was no clear and obvious error that justified asking Nicholson to inspect the incident on the pitch.

That decision left the Dundee players frustrated, but the subsequent television analysis largely supported the VAR outcome.

Boyd Gives His View

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd offered a nuanced assessment of the incident.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Boyd suggested that Dundee could potentially have received a free-kick if Nicholson had made that decision during the original passage of play.

However, he argued that the threshold required for VAR intervention was much higher.

Boyd explained that had the referee awarded the foul immediately, there would probably have been little controversy surrounding the decision. Rangers would have complained about the call, while Bevan would have felt he had done enough to earn the free-kick.

But once the referee had allowed the game to continue, Boyd felt the incident did not meet the standard required for VAR to overturn the goal.

His assessment highlighted the distinction between something potentially being a foul during normal play and something serious enough to justify cancelling a goal after a VAR review.

McFadden Sees Contact

James McFadden also discussed the incident and admitted he initially thought Bevan had gone down because of the contact.

The former Scotland international believed there was some physical contact between the players, meaning a referee could conceivably have awarded a foul if he had judged the challenge that way in real time.

However, McFadden agreed that the contact was not sufficient to justify overturning Bouanani’s goal.

He argued that once Nicholson had allowed play to continue, there was simply not enough evidence of a clear error to bring the referee back to the pitchside monitor.

That distinction proved important because VAR is not designed to re-referee every possible foul. Instead, intervention generally requires a clear and obvious mistake in a key decision.

Foster Delivers Strong Verdict

Richard Foster was even more emphatic when the incident was discussed on Sportscene.

The former defender dismissed Dundee’s appeal and insisted there was effectively nothing in the challenge.

Foster acknowledged that Dundee had claimed a foul against Makhanya, but he did not believe the contact warranted the level of concern shown by the home players.

Steven Thompson was similarly dismissive of the argument.

When asked about the possibility of a foul, Thompson gave a brief but decisive response: “No chance.”

The comments demonstrate the strength of the consensus among the television pundits, despite the initial anger from Dundee’s players.

Rangers Still Pay the Price

While the VAR controversy dominated the discussion, the final result was still disappointing for Rangers.

McInnes’ side had the opportunity to reclaim top spot but ultimately had to settle for a draw after twice coming from behind and then surrendering a lead.

The dropped points became even more costly when Celtic defeated Hearts on Sunday.

That result allowed Celtic to move four points clear at the summit, increasing the pressure on Rangers as the Premiership race continues.

For Dundee, meanwhile, the frustration will centre on what might have been.

The Dark Blues showed considerable character to score twice against Rangers and recover from falling behind, but they will undoubtedly wonder whether the controversial decision before Bouanani’s goal could have changed the outcome.

Nevertheless, the latest verdict from the pundits is clear: while the Bevan incident might conceivably have been awarded as a foul in real time, there was not enough evidence for VAR to overturn the goal.

For Rangers, the goal stands, but the two dropped points mean the pressure at the top of the table has increased considerably.