Barry Robson hits out at 'another Rangers VAR decision' as Aberdeen boss reveals what he said to referee Nick Walsh

What the Aberdeen manager said after the controversial end to the 1-1 draw with Rangers at Pittodrie

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson speaks to referee Nick Walsh at full time after the 1-1 draw with Rangers at Pittodrie. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Barry Robson lamented that there is something wearingly familiar about Rangers being granted a late opportunity to gain a result after Aberdeen saw three points slip away in injury time.

The Aberdeen manager was stung by the VAR decision to award the visitors a penalty in stoppage time for tug by defender Stefan Gartenmann on Connor Goldson.

The hosts had been holding onto a lead since the 11th minute after Bojan Miovski had struck for the 11th time this season.

Aberdeen lived dangerously at times, with Rangers twice hitting the bar through Leon Balogun and Tom Lawrence. But it looked like they would see the game out until Gartenmann’s fateful decision to grab a fist full of Goldson’s shirt.

The incident mirrored the one that saw Rangers claim all three points against Hearts last month, after Peter Haring grabbed Goldson’s shirt in the box.

On both occasions James Tavernier converted the penalty to maximise the frustration on the part of the opposition.

"I think there was a lot said at the VAR meeting about pulling shirts in boxes. I wasn’t at the meeting, I was up here training when they put the meeting down in Glasgow on so it wasn’t great timing," he complained.

"But this is what I have heard – the referees all said that not every pull of a shirt inside the penalty box is a penalty. Stefan got blocked, I think we can all see that.

“Obviously VAR has just not bothered looking at the block, it has just looked at the shirt pull. We are in trouble if this is the way it is going to aren’t we? We are in trouble. It just doesn’t look good for me another VAR decision going Rangers’ way in the 90th minute. It doesn’t look good. I don’t know, I am just frustrated.”

Asked to expand on his comments, Robson smiled. “It’s just a goal in the 90th minute. That’s it.”

He wasn’t smiling at the end of the match. Instead, he made a beeline for referee Nick Walsh, who had been advised to watch the Gartenmann incident again by the VAR team, headed by Andrew Dallas.

“I just said I hope you got it right," he said. "I hope you got it right, I just hope he got it right that’s all. Too many decisions have been wrong in Scotland.

"It was a long time at the monitor as well. Listen, I am not going to get into that. I know you all want me to. What I feel I can’t say. Let’s just talk about how good my team was today.”