Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin could face an SFA sanction after appearing to soak an Aberdeen fan with a water bottle.
The flashpoint happened shortly after full-time of Sunday’s 2-0 win for the visitors at Pittodrie, when Sky Sports cameras showed Raskin seemingly clashing with the supporter near the tunnel. A cup then appeared to be thrown at the player.
Always a highly-charged affair, rival fans had clashed in the city prior to the game, before Rangers star Manny Fernandez also appeared to be struck by an object thrown from the crowd during the first half.
Rangers boss Danny Rohl refused to be drawn on the controversy, insisting that his team did their talking on the pitch as they moved back into second place in the table.
However, Raskin was criticised by Sky pundits Kris Boyd and Chris Sutton, with the Belgian running the risk of landing himself in trouble with the authorities.
Former Rangers winger Vaclav Cerny did something similar in an Old Firm match at Celtic Park last season and was eventually issued with a formal SFA warning over his future conduct.
Nicolas Raskin, standing directly in front of red-shirted Aberdeen player at tunnel, appears to soak an Aberdeen supporter
A fan is shown soaked with water after the incident involving Rangers midfielder Raskin
Raskin, centre, congratulates Manny Fernandez during game, before the defender’s goal was ruled out
‘You need to rise above it,’ said former Ibrox striker Boyd on the Raskin incident. ‘You are going to be criticised, especially when you are a Rangers player coming up here, and do what he has done there. He will probably be regretting it now. For me, if you are an away player you are going to get the fans taunting you. You just have to get on with it, and get down the road.’
Ex-Celtic striker Sutton said: ‘He (Raskin) is such a talented player, he is an important player — he can’t be doing that. Cerny did that the other year against Celtic, I don’t think there was any punishment for that.
‘Rangers players can’t be treated differently to other players. This is a powderkeg of a fixture anyway. This is the last thing this fixture needs.
‘You can’t keep going around spraying water on fans, it’s an absolute no-no. There needs to be some sort of punishment or players will just keep carrying on.’
Former Celtic and Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley also claimed a punishment could be on the cards, saying: ‘They have won the game, just walk away. You are going to get stick. This is a big game, for the teams and the fans. You have got to be the bigger person and walk away. He might get a punishment now.’
Asked about the various flashpoints in the game, Rohl replied: ‘We want to play football on the pitch. You could feel the atmosphere today. This is a tough place to go when you are Rangers. Even when we arrived, I could feel straight away where we are. But we showed the right answers on the pitch and that’s what we want.’
With Rangers having earlier confirmed the £4million signing of Danish midfielder Tochi Chukwuani from Sturm Graz, Rohl insisted his team will be hard to stop in the title race after moving back up to second place.
They are three points behind leaders Hearts after Thelo Aasgaard’s goal and James Tavernier’s penalty saw them claim victory at a wet and wild Pittodrie.
Delighted Rangers boss Danny Rohl said his players had done their talking on the pitch
Rohl and penalty scorer James Tavernier show their appreciation for travelling fans
Thelo Aasgaard takes the acclaim after putting Rangers in front in the first half at Pittodrie
This was Rangers’ fifth win in a row. Since Rohl took charge, they have won 11 of their 14 league matches, with two draws and only one defeat.
Asked about the importance of his team responding to Hearts and Celtic both winning this weekend, Rohl said: ‘Honestly, I didn’t really look too much at the other results. I was just focused on making sure we did our job.
‘If we continue to do our job until the end, like we are doing at the moment, then it will be hard to stop us. I think it’s remarkable at the moment, not only that we win games, but keep a lot of clean sheets.
‘We have shown more and more where we want to go. We have now a little break from the league with the cup game [against Annan], which we have to take very seriously.
‘Three points, clean sheet, job done. It wasn’t simple at all after not winning here at this stadium for the past few years. But, all in all, I am very proud of my players. It’s five wins in a row for us, which is outstanding.’
Skipper Tavernier added: ‘It was a very good win. We made no excuses before the game. Really proud of the win and big thanks to the fans who travelled up in bad conditions. We knew it would be difficult. It was a proper performance. It’s about consistency, we’ve got to keep going. The togetherness, we’re quite a young squad and the players are maturing really well.’
Meanwhile, Rangers have made a loan offer for Wolfsburg winger Andreas Skov Olsen. The 26-year-old, who has won 40 caps for Denmark, joined the Bundesliga side from Club Brugge last year for a fee of around £12million.
It hasn’t worked out for him in Germany, however, and it is understood that he is keen on making a fresh start elsewhere. Rangers are now in talks with Wolfsburg and would be willing to pay a seven-figure loan fee to make the deal happen.
Skov Olsen, who also had spells with Bologna and Nordsjaelland, is 6ft 2ins tall and is versatile enough to play any position across the forward line.
