‘Shocking’ – Pundit in disbelief at controversial kung fu incident in Rangers vs Hibs

Nathan Moriah-Welsh’s lunge on John Lundstram in the 2-0 Rangers cup win at Easter Road was a “shocking” one, according to Alan Rough.

The former Scotland keeper reacted on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show on 11 March, a day after the Hibs man was shown a straight red by Steven McLean for leaving his feet in a flying challenge on the Gers midfielder, suggesting it was in the style of martial arts from a Bruce Lee move.

Nick Montgomery was upset with Lundstram after the game as he argued he hadn’t been caught, but Philippe Clement insisted such “reckless” challenges had to be outlawed for the safety of the players.

Tam McManus suggested all three flashpoints in the game – Jordan Obita conceded penalty and was also sent off – had been “50-50 decisions” which his former side were on the “wrong side of”, while Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell cited “ill-discipline” from Hibs at the time being the cause.

He pointed to Moriah-Welsh being off the ground and compared it to his own Dan Casey’s controversial challenge on Ross McCausland a week earlier, where the defender went unpunished despite injury to the winger while staying grounded.

However Rough was clear (33m 35s): “I think the sending off was a bad one. I think the boy had been watching a Bruce Lee film before he’d come into the game. It was shocking.”

Nathan Moriah-Welsh challenge on John Lundstram blasted in Rangers win

It is both true that the Hibs man was out of control, and he didn’t cause Lundstram significant damage, but by the modern rules it was always liable to lead to a red card.

Steaming in and leaving the ground is clearly a risky move, and while he might justifiably argue that he had aimed his tackle at such an angle that it was never endangering the Gers midfielder it is also true that leaving the ground is deemed dangerous specifically because you can’t change direction if necessary.

The penalty looked clear, despite the protestations of Michael Stewart live, and in isolation Obita’s second yellow was relatively soft but in the context of a number of smaller infringements wasn’t shocking, as McManus and Kettlewell acknowledged.

All three decisions were the sort that seem understandable, but also provide rivals with plenty to cry foul over, as none proved to be especially serious but also satisfied the rules for sanction.

It was a heated game that saw three players lost to injury in addition to the two dismissals, but Clement’s men came away with an important win and now face the other side of Edinburgh in the semis after being drawn against Hearts.