Why referee was RIGHT to award Dessers goal for Rangers against St Johnstone as VAR ‘bailed out’ Matthew MacDermid

Cyriel Dessers' opening goal against St Johnstone at Hampden was met by plenty of confusion after ref Matthew MacDermid appeared to penalise the Rangers striker - before VAR intervened and the strike was given.

Striker Dessers came off the bench at half-time and had the ball in the back of the net within 13 minutes of his introduction. He wheeled off to celebrate but it appeared to have been chalked off by the on-field whistler, who gestured for a St Johnstone free-kick for an adjudged foul on Jack Sanders - seemingly before the ball hit the back of the net.

The goal was reviewed in the VAR room by Greg Aitken and assistant Alan Mulvanny. MacDermid was called over to the monitor and after a review of both the foul and a possible offside, he gestured for the goal to stand. That sparked fury on the St Johnstone bench who argued that since McDiarmid had pointed for the foul and blown for the free-kick before the goal went in, it should not have been allowed to stand.

But it was later explained on the Premier Sports broadcast by commentator Rory Hamilton that MacDermid hadn't actually blown his whistle. And because of that crucial factor, VAR were given the chance to intervene, with the whistler's gesture itself not enough to stop the play.

It was debated by pundits after with Neil McCann saying on Sportsound: "If a decision is given by the ref, the players will stop - they play to the whistle. The argument is the referee blew the whistle and gave the free-kick, I don't think it should stand."

Michael Stewart said on Premier Sports: "That is a mistake from the officials that they are obviously trying to rectify. It's bizarre. If you see a free kick you don't wait to see how the game plays out, you blow your whistle. This