Perplexed Philippe Clement says Rangers penalty concession was BIZARRE days after derby spot kick snub

Philippe Clement has demanded clarity over the handball rule after insisting it’s BIZARRE that Rangers conceded a penalty for the offence just days after being denied one for a similar incident against Celtic.

John Souttar was penalised after a cross from Kilmarnock’s Rory McKenzie struck his arm with John Beaton referred to the monitor by VAR Nick Walsh. The spot kick was the first Rangers had conceded in the league in 74 SPFL games with Danny Armstrong converting and Clement was angered after Celtic defender Alistair Johnston escaped an alleged handball against Rangers on Saturday, with Walsh the man in the middle that day.

Gers still won 3-1 thanks to goals from Ross McCausland, Abdallah Sima and Todd Cantwell but the Belgian told Rangers TV: “The only downside for me is that I can’t explain to my players any more what is handball and what is not after this game after conceding a penalty and a goal like this three days after what happened at Celtic Park. I can’t give them an explanation and that’s different as a manager when you can’t give an explanation. We can laugh afterwards and it’s not a big difference between 3-0 and 3-1 but for the future it needs to be clear for everyone what is handball and what is not because these two situations are a little bit bizarre.”

But overall Clement was delighted with the win as they head to Spain for a training camp during the Premiership shutdown. He said: “We knew that Kilmarnock had won three out of four against the Old Firm this season so it was a tough opponent to break down and win against so I’m even more proud the way they did it. We were the dominant team, created a lot of chances and scored three good goals. It was really positive.

“We had a lot of good combinations.