Scotland claimed for two penalties in their 1-0 World Cup defeat by Morocco.
Former referee Christina Unkel said they should have been awarded one of them. Pundits Roy Keane and Ange Postecoglou disagreed with their ITV Sport colleague.
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke was diplomatic, saying he “wasn’t too sure” about several decisions made by Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev.
Meanwhile, two former Scotland internationals were left bemused that Morocco defender Issa Diop was not sent off in the first half. And another, Pat Nevin, defended a “bizarre” refereeing performance.
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‘One or two decisions I’m not sure about’
After Ismael Saibari had smashed Morocco into the lead after 70 seconds, it seemed it would be a long night for the Scots, who beat Haiti 1-0 in their opening match.
However, they slowly grew into the contest and felt aggrieved not to get two second-half penalties after John McGinn and Scott McTominay went to ground.
Referee Tantashev let plenty go through the game and there was obvious frustration from Scottish players and coaches alike at his performance.
“I think it is a penalty kick,” Unkel said on ITV about the McTominay incident.
“The referee is known for tolerating a higher level of physical contact but you don’t need a lot to give a penalty.
“It’s a simple foul, there’s contact at the knee position and there’s another angle that suggests there might be a step on the left boot.”
However, Clarke felt the earlier challenge on McGinn was the more egregious decision and he also felt Moroccan defender Issa Diop was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card in the first half when he felled Che Adams.
“There were one or two decisions that I’m not too sure about,” Clarke said.
“I thought the John McGinn one was more a penalty [than the Scott McTominay one]. On another day somebody could give that.
“It’s the same with the yellow card for the defender when Che Adams is going clean through on goals. On another day that could be a red.”
‘Morocco got away with one’
McGinn himself was in no doubt that he was fouled by Neil El Aynaoui, but insists Scotland cannot fixate on refereeing calls.
“We could have been helped at times by the ref with 50-50 challenges,” the Aston Villa man said. “No problem with allowing things to flow but it has to be consistent.
“Out the corner of my eye, I could see [the Morocco defender] charging in. I got first contact to the ball and he took me out. It’s a penalty kick for me. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. If it was given on the field, no chance it’s overturned.
“Morocco have got away with one there. But we need to be better and create chances from open play, not rely on referee’s decisions.”
On the Diop yellow card, two former Scotland forwards believe it should have been a different colour of card.
“For me, it is [a red],” Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann said. “Che Adams is goal-side and he’s clearly pulled back. I think with the flight of the ball, he’s going to get onto it and there’s no-one on the cover.”
James McFadden agreed. “He’s running onto it, straight towards goal. It’s 100% an obvious goalscoring opportunity. If the referee deems it a foul, he has to send him off.”
However, former Scotland winger Pat Nevin defended Tantashev’s “bizarre” display.
“You put that referee in a game 10 years ago and he’s perfectly normal,” he said. “I’m all right with that.
“He made a couple of mistakes but, in reality, I’d rather have him than most of the referees we get these days. We’d have a much more robust game where not every single time somebody nudged somebody and that person crumpled, it’s a foul.”
