St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean expressed his frustration with referee Graham Grainger after skipper Liam Gordon gave away a penalty and was later red-carded in his side’s 1-1 draw with Livingston.
The defender was sent off with seven minutes remaining in regulation time after a VAR check penalised a studs-up challenge on Joel Nouble.
The numerical disadvantage prevented the McDiarmid Park side from launching a late push for a first victory of the campaign.
MacLean said: “I’m frustrated with the penalty. I think Liam is naive, he thinks he can win it – but I don’t think it’s a penalty.
“I’ve watched it back and I’ve spoken to the referee, and he says he’s impeded him.
“Then he said he’d need to see it back, so take from that what you want. His reasoning doesn’t suggest it’s a penalty.
“Liam shouldn’t go near him because the ball is going out the pitch. But the ref is 35 yards away looking through Sven [Sprangler], I don’t know how he can give the penalty.”
On the red card, he added: “I saw it from a wide angle. It doesn’t look like a red but I need to see the stills because that’s what they go on these days, isn’t it?
“So I’ve not seen the VAR footage. It looked like a proper, hard tackle.”
It was a third draw in seven Premiership games for St Johnstone, but MacLean felt his side turned in an improved performance from their 2-0 defeat to Hibernian.
After making four changes to his line-up and altering formation, he added: “In the second half, we weren’t as good as first half. The goal probably changes that, we only looked like we’d concede from set-plays because they’re a big side.
“We lick our wounds and go again. It’s not what we wanted but sometimes things are out of your control.
“I thought our shape was good, we were looking comfortable. We should’ve come in at half-time two or three up.”
Meanwhile, Livingston manager David Martindale was happy to see his team spring to life in the second half to register a positive result after defeats to Celtic and Rangers in their last two outings.
He said: “In the first half, we were really lethargic and passive, and I think there was an overhang [from Wednesday’s Viaplay Cup loss to Rangers].
“But you’ve also got to give Stevie and St Johnstone credit, because I think they came after us.
“When we got the goal, we really settled down in the game and from that point we had the impetus to go and try to get more from the game.
“The boys got a wee lift in energy levels. Our tempo increased and we put to bed Wednesday night, in terms of the mental side and the fatigue.
“If you had offered me a point before the game, after this run of fixtures, I probably would have taken it.
“I’m disappointed we never took three points but I would probably say a draw is the right result.”
Giroud leaving Milan to join MLS at end of season
Olivier Giroud announced he will be leaving Milan to join the MLS at the end of the season when his contract expires.
The Frenchman joined the club in July 2021 from Chelsea, winning the Serie A title in his first season.
Giroud has scored 48 goals in 130 games in all competitions for Milan, netting 16 of those this season to help them to a second-place finish.
In an emotional interview with the club’s media channels, Giroud said: "I'm here to tell you that the next two games will be my last for Milan. My career will continue in MLS.
"I'm very proud of everything I've done here at Milan across three seasons. It's the right time to announce it. I'm a bit emotional. My story with Milan ends this season, but Milan will forever remain in my heart."
Though Giroud did not confirm which team he would be joining in the MLS, previous reports suggested he could be moving to LAFC to link up with his France international team-mate, Hugo Lloris.
Giroud leaving Milan at end of season to join MLS
Olivier Giroud announced he will be leaving Milan to join the MLS at the end of the season when his contract expires.
The Frenchman joined the club in July 2021 from Chelsea, winning the Serie A title in his first season.
Giroud has scored 48 goals in 130 games in all competitions for Milan, netting 16 of those this season to help them to a second-place finish.
In an emotional interview with the club’s media channels, Giroud said: "I'm here to tell you that the next two games will be my last for Milan. My career will continue in MLS.
"I'm very proud of everything I've done here at Milan across three seasons. It's the right time to announce it. I'm a bit emotional. My story with Milan ends this season, but Milan will forever remain in my heart."
Though Giroud did not confirm which team he would be joining in the MLS, previous reports suggested he could be moving to LAFC to link up with his France international team-mate, Hugo Lloris.
Vilahamn wants to use FA Cup final defeat as 'beginning' for Tottenham Women
Tottenham Women manager Robert Vilahamn believes his side will use their FA Cup final defeat to start something special, rather than ending their good work.
Spurs were hammered 4-0 by Manchester United Women in Sunday's Wembley Stadium showpiece as Ella Toone and Rachel Williams were on target before Lucia Garcia's second-half double.
Vilahamn's side failed to manage a shot on target but the Spurs boss suggested his team will catch up to the women's elite clubs.
"The main thing I said was this is not the end, it is the beginning," Vilahamn said.
"We still have a gap between us and the top teams but that's normal. We are closing the gap but we haven't closed the gap yet."
Tottenham finished sixth in the Women's Super League as well as reaching this final, their first FA Cup showpiece appearance in their short history.
Vilahamn wants his Spurs players to use this defeat as motivation going forward.
"If you take away the feelings right now, you need to look at these players doing some incredible things this year," he said.
"We are at Wembley playing in front of our fans and they are actually enjoying it and staying, and supporting us after.
"We got a good experience today and we are learning how to play at Wembley more times. We need to look at it that way because the players are amazing."
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