A bizarre free-kick in the clash between Hibernian and Rangers saw two players hit the deck clutching their heads on Saturday. Nectarios Triantis was the catalyst of the incident as he attempted to launch the ball forward whilst his side were trailing.
Rangers moved two points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 3-1 win over Hibernian at the Ibrox Stadium, though they could drop back down into second if Celtic can secure an important victory over Livingston on Sunday.
After a slow start, the game descended into chaos in the 21st minute when Rangers were controversially awarded a penalty for a handball against Triantis. James Tavernier missed the resulting spot kick before Scott Wright smashed home the rebound, which was consequently ruled out for encroachment.
Tavernier made up for his miss just minutes later when opening the scoring before Myziane Maolida equalised in style in what appeared to have been on the cusp of half-time. However, there was still enough time after the goal for Cyriel Dessers to grab his 13th of the season.
Rabbi Matonda ensured that Rangers would head into Easter Sunday at the top of the table with a late goal, though the goal-fest at Ibrox wasn’t the only talking point from the match. Instead, a moment of sheer chaos saw fans from both sides left in hysterics.
After being awarded a free-kick deep inside their own half, Hibs’ Triantis attempted to switch the play and kickstart a counter-attack. However, his pass did not make it any further than five yards as the ball smashed into the face of his unaware teammate Joe Newell.
Though that wasn’t where the hilarity concluded as the ball bounced off of the midfielder and onto the head of another Hibernian player, Will Fish, who dropped to the ground as well. Newell required medical treatment after being blasted with the ball but was able to continue.
The clip of the bizarre incident has since gone viral online, though Hibs manager Nick Montgomery felt that it was the quality of Rangers that deserved attention. Speaking after the game, he said: “We got back in the game but then conceded just before half-time. So on the basis of that, we didn’t deserve anything. But they are a quality team and for me are the best in the competition right now. They have some quality players and you can’t leave them unmarked in the box otherwise you get punished which is what we did today.”
