Steven Gerrard questions VAR consistency in Rangers' 2-0 win over Brondby as he reveals goal hero Leon Balogun injury concern

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard believes VAR should have given his team even greater assistance than it did in their crucial 2-0 Europa League win over Brondby at Ibrox.

Leon Balogun opens the scoring for Rangers against Brondby at Ibrox but the defender had to limp off later in the match with a hamstring issue. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The Scottish champions benefitted from its intervention with the award of their second goal of the night which was initially disallowed by the on-field match officials for offside against scorer Kemar Roofe.

But while Gerrard is an advocate of VAR, he was bemused by its failure to step in when Rangers had a second half penalty claim turned down when man of the match Joe Aribo seemed to be clearly tripped by Brondby defender Sigurd Rosted.

“Listen, I am in favour of VAR and I think it will improve as we go along,” said Gerrard. “I think tonight is the evidence that they don’t get everything perfectly right because they have missed a stonewall penalty.

“I think anyone who loves football, if you watch that - I thought at the time it was a penalty and now I have seen it four or five times, I am 100 per cent convinced it was a pen. VAR missed one unfortunately.

“I thought we deserved the victory. We were really strong, both sides of the game

in and out of possession. I thought we played with a lot of control and style. We could have maybe got another couple of goals

“It kick-starts our Europa League journey. We put pressure on ourselves by not getting results in the first two games but we’ve handled that tonight.”

Gerrard’s delight was tempered by a suspected hamstring injury suffered by Leon Balogun, scorer of Rangers first goal.

With Filip Helander already sidelined until December, Rangers have limited options in central defence. Calvin Bassey replaced Balogun last night, while Jack Simpson is not registered in their Europa League squad. Balogun will undergo a scan on Friday.

“Leon has felt something in there,” said Gerrard. “We are hoping we have got to it before there is a tweak or any muscle damage. We are hoping it is just a little bit of tightness and we will know in the next 24 hours. I will certainly be praying tonight.”

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