Philippe Clement delivers brutal Rangers red card truth to John Lundstram after 'unnecessary' Celtic flashpoint

Rangers boss Philippe Clement has branded John Lundstram's red card tackle against Celtic "totally unnecessary".

The midfielder was handed a straight red card from whistler Willie Collum in the closing stages of the first half following a VAR review. The man in the middle was sent to the monitor and after originally issuing a yellow card for the late challenge on Alistair Johnston, he upgraded the booking to a sending-off with the visitors reduced to ten men in an afternoon to forget for the midfielder.

Moments before he had turned the ball into his own net as Celtic ran out 2-1 winners to put one huge hand on the Scottish Premiership trophy. Matt O'Riley grabbed the opener with a low driving effort before Lundstram turned into his own net. Cyriel Dessers scored for Rangers in a frantic end to the first 45 but that would be the scoring for the afternoon as the Hoops failed to make their dominance count in the second period with Jack Butland denying O'Riley from 12-yards after he was awarded a penalty.

Speaking post-match, Clement was asked if he had any complaints over the dismissal, he said: "No, it is totally unnecessary to make a tackle there at that moment but Lunny will be the first one to know. It is a one-split second decision making and the wrong decision making. But I don't forget all the things he has done well the last couple of months also."

“He didn’t speak afterwards. Of course, he is disappointed. He will feel like that [like he’s let team-mates down]. But I also had moments like that in my career where you get a red card when it is not necessary. He is experienced. He knows and I’m sure in the next couple of weeks he’ll still want to fight for this team “Maybe he wanted to fight a little bit too much and take the team with him.”

On the penalty against his side, he added: "I didn't see it clearly. I saw from a distance but a lot of people told me it was not a penalty. It was decision of the referee not VAR I think because they asked him to go and take a look. Ok, that is part of the game. Referee's are there to make decisions."