4 big Celtic vs Rangers ref calls from Alistair Johnston VAR confusion to Paulo Bernardo red card let off

It was a blockbuster final game of 2023 and the penultimate fixture before the winter break and it didn't disappoint on the park.

Referee Nick Walsh and his team running the lines and on VAR duty had a busy afternoon - as they so often do these days - as Brendan Rodgers and Philippe Clement locked horns for the first time at a packed out Parkhead of home supporters. The away day lockout of fans in this fixture continues to rumble on as the full ground of Hoops fans trudged through the snowy conditions pre-match to take in the top of the table clash.

The champions went into the showdown with a five point advantage, but having played two games more than the Light Blues. It now stands at EIGHT points after a real 90 minute tussle in Glasgow's east end. The tempo was non-stop and two brilliant goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi settled this one.

James Tavernier fired home an excellent free-kick late on to give the ten men visitors, who had Leon Balogun sent off, hope but it wasn't to be as the 2-1 loss also handed a first defeat on the Ibrox gaffer at the 17th attempt. Record Sport looks at the big VAR calls and decision from a pulsating early kick-off in the Scottish Premiership.

Sky Sports moved to clear up the reason behind Rangers NOT being awarded a first half penalty in a major talking point. Both Kris Boyd and Neil Lennon insisted that Philippe Clement's side should have been awarded a penalty while Mike Dean - who was part of the Soccer Saturday team - agreed with the studio pundits.

However, former top class referee Steve Conroy pointed out VAR can't get involved in an offside situation when checking for a penalty. He told sportslens: “Rangers have been robbed of the chance of levelling the game with a