Ally McCoist stunned by VAR ‘carnage’ during Rangers defeat in UEFA Europa League – ‘Biggest cop out you’ll see all night’

Gers boss Russell Martin must have felt his luck was about to turn when VAR Alen Borosak halted play to check for a possible penalty against Genk defender Joris Kayembe when he challenged for the ball with his arms above his head in the 34th minute.

James Tavernier’s far-post header was goal-bound but struck the arm of Kayembe, leading referee Jug to head to the pitch-side monitor to review the incident.

As the official went to the monitor, the expectation was that Rangers were about to be awarded a penalty.

McCoist said on TNT Sports: “He’s going to give it, but it’s not a handball. The guy jumped for the ball, and his arm is out because he’s going back. Does it hit his arm? Yes, he’s going to give a penalty, but I don’t know.

“I’m a firm believer that we have to get the word ‘deliberate’ back into it somewhere along the line. That’s my own opinion, and there is no way on this earth that this is deliberate.

“People will tell you that this is unnatural, when it’s not. His arm is actually in a completely natural position, the way he’s going for the ball. It definitely hits his arm.

“We’ll never know if it’s going in or not, or if it would have been on target. The way things are going, you’d be surprised if he doesn’t give it.”

However, much to the shock of the former Rangers striker and the majority of the 40,000 inside Ibrox, referee Jug called both captains together to explain his interpretation of events.

The match official signalled that a push had been committed by Tavernier on the Genk defender, awarding a free-kick to the away side – much to the amazement of McCoist.

“I would actually call that a cop out,” he said. “That’s the biggest cop out you’ll see all night, that’s what that is. The referee has copped out as he knows he should give a penalty based on the current laws of the game, so he’s invented a shove there.

“He’s taken the easy way out. I would have had more respect for the referee if he had just said I am not giving the penalty for the handball. I’d have had more respect for him. Given there is so much carnage with penalties, I stated before, we have to get the word ‘deliberate’ back into the law.”

Things would get worse for Rangers when they were reduced to 10 men without the aid of VAR, as Jug deemed a challenge from Mohamed Diomande on Zakaria El Ouahdi as being worthy of a straight red card.

“I thought he got the ball, but I might have got it totally wrong,” McCoist said without the aid of a replay. “My initial reaction was that the studs were being shown, but I thought he got the ball.

“His studs are on his leg, there’s no doubt about that. I think he gets the ball first, but then his momentum takes him onto the leg. It looks like I was wrong, and the ref was right.”

The chaotic climax to the first half culminated in a third incident going against Rangers as Tavernier then conceded a penalty for clipping the heels of Yaimar Medina inside the box, a call only made after a VAR intervention from Borosak.

Martin must have been waiting for the net to bulge from Oh’s subsequent spot-kick given his side’s wretched first-half misfortune, but Jack Butland sprung to his right to somehow keep the score goalless heading into the break.

Former Celtic striker Oh would atone for his miss, however, 10 minutes into the second period to nudge the visitors in front as Genk began to make their numerical advantage count.