Michael Stewart explodes as penalty to Rangers deja vu sees Celtic land familiar 'collision' defence

Fuming Michael Stewart has been sent into a fury over a Rangers penalty decision after Celtic star Alistair Johnston was punished on derby day.

Fabio Silva went down in the box following a challenge from the right-back - which initially saw referee John Beaton book the Rangers star for simulation. However, VAR would intervene and the man in the middle would be sent to the monitor to review the incident. He then pointed to the spot - allowing James Taverner to make it 2-1 and fire the Light Blues back into the game during the 3-3 thriller.

But Stewart was left in disbelief by the match officials as he let rip on BBC Sportscene. He initially said: "In this instance, you can see quite clearly that Alistair Johnston gets the ball. He wins it. He (Silva) goes to the deck far too easily. It's not a penalty kick - he wins the ball. I don't know what VAR is looking at. You can see it in real time. Alistair Johnston wins the ball."

A still image was then shown by VAR of the challenge, sparking a heated rant from Stewart. He said: "There is no point in looking at that. That is an incident after the ball has been won.

"Yes, there is a coming together, but he has won the ball. This is beyond belief. You can see it in real time. There is no justification. He wins the ball. There is a coming together, this happens all the time in football. You can see it in real-time, there is no foul to be given."

It follows Stewart being sent into meltdown during Rangers clash with Hibs. Nectarios Triantis jumped to head a corner away from danger but was involved in a collision with Ibrox defender John Souttar - who was attacking the ball. Referee David Dickinson initially waved play on before Andrew Dallas in the VAR room sent the man in the