After Nathan Moriah-Welsh was sent off against Rangers, Nick Montgomery defended the star Hibs player, but he was called out for breaking the rules.
The 21-year-old was given a straight red card by referee Steven McLean for lunging into a tackle on John Lundstram. This reduced the Easter Road team to nine men during their Scottish Cup match, as Jonathan Obita had already been sent off. The incident left the Rangers player in a heap on the ground. The Light Blues would go to the Scottish Cup semi-final with goals from Lundstram and Fabio Silva, but Montgomery was not delighted when the final whistle blew.
He questioned why the VAR panel did not send whistler McLean to the monitor to evaluate the incident and maintained that his man should have received a yellow card for failing to make contact with the Ibrox star during the lunge. The manager also questioned Lundstram’s response to the incident; nevertheless, the former Hibee Lovell maintained that the referees had made the correct call.
“Nick Montgomery was unhappy with it, but he goes in with some amount of pace,” Lovell said to Sportscene. He is never able to get the ball there when he lunges. He claims there was little to no touch with John Lundstram, but that suffices to establish substantial foul play. It’s two-footed, he’s losing control, and he’s lunging. All you might possibly wonder is if it puts the opponent’s safety at jeopardy—perhaps because he can’t catch his balance, but it could be any combination of the aforementioned factors.
“People around me in the stadium gasped as I was there.” It was more than just careless; it was a risky challenge. Keep in mind that referees are expected to follow the rules of the game, and in my opinion, that qualified for a red card.
The list of offenses in the tackle provided by Lovell seems to be supported by the IFAB regulations. According to the rules, a player may receive a red card for a challenge “if they commit any of the following offenses against an opponent in a way that the referee deems to be negligent, reckless, or involving excessive force:
Lawmakers continue by outlining the requirements, which seems to support Lovell’s position. “When a player acts without caution or shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge,” it is said that they are being careless. There is no necessity for disciplinary action.” Excessive force is defined as “when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and/or endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off.” Reckless behavior is defined as “when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned.”
It might be claimed that Moriah-Welsh belongs in the excessive category given the force of the tackle that was applied to Lundstram and the fact that he was airborne when it happened.
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