Giovanni van Bronckhorst blasts 'unbelievable' decision as Rangers boss insists Celtic loanee was offside

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst defended the mentality of his players after they dropped two more points in their title defence and insisted they would have seen out victory over Motherwell if VAR was operational in the Scottish Premiership.

Van Bronckhorst’s team passed up the chance to close within a point of Celtic, who drew 0-0 at Hibs earlier in the day, in the title race as Motherwell came from 2-0 down at half-time to claim a point.

While van Bronckhorst admitted his team were culpable for not translating their dominance of the game into a comfortable victory, he was unhappy with the match officials’ failure to spot Celtic loanee Liam Shaw in an offside position in the build up to Motherwell’s second goal.

Van Bronckhorst, who normally resists directing any criticism at referees, was also bemused by Don Robertson’s decision to add just three minutes of stoppage time amid regular complaints from Rangers about time wasting tactics by Motherwell.

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst in conversation with his players during their 2-2 draw against Motherwell at Ibrox. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“We created 30 chances today,” said van Bronckhorst. “I know it has been hard weeks but we were playing well and creating chances.

“We got three minutes extra time, which for me was unbelievable. Again it is the refs that decide it. I think with the build up to the second goal, the player (Shaw) was offside and we scored two goals which were even closer with Alfredo Morelos (which were ruled offside).

“You couldn’t see it with your eye and they had that really sharp eye in those moments. But when one player is one yard offside, they didn’t see it. That is why you need VAR, for these moments to help referees. With VAR, we would have won this game.

“The mentality (of the players) is good. Sometimes these situations happen. We have to be more ruthless defensively, that is for sure, and we have to be more clinical in front of goal.

“If you look back at the run after the winter break, getting four draws isn’t good enough and it has to be better, especially with the standards we want to have with this club.

"Of course we can do things better but I think the mentality of the players is what is needed to be successful. But obviously we cannot continue to dominate games and just get one point.”

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