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Credit: Imago / Sky Sports Football

Harri Burton

Tue 5 August 2025 10:01, UK

Mohamed Diomande was lucky to go without punishment after calls were waved away for a Rangers penalty against Motherwell.

Despite a positive start to proceedings at Fir Park on Saturday, 2 August, with James Tavernier scoring the Gers’ opener from a corner, Russell Martin’s side were forced to settle for a single point.

Emmanuel Longelo netted just three minutes from full-time, with several Motherwell players going close to scoring the winner, but the Light Blues held on in their opening game of the Scottish Premiership.

The manager was extremely honest with the verdict on his team’s performance, calling out several first-team stars for “jogging”, suggesting that multiple changes still need to be made this summer.

Within the first two minutes, referee Steven McLean was forced to stop play after Diomande hit the deck inside Motherwell’s penalty area, holding his face while rolling in pain on the floor.

Any calls for a penalty from the away supporters were immediately waved away, and while there was clear contact between the player’s face and the ball, Hackett has no empathy for Diomande.

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McLean was not afraid to show a card, with Tavernier, Max Aarons, Kieran Dowell, Lyall Cameron, and Elliot Watt all going into the book, and the former referee believes the Gers star should now face retrospective action for his actions.

Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

This article contains exclusive comments from ex-FIFA official and former professional referee Keith Hackett.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Diomande’s fall in the box, the former referee said: “What worries me now is that players exaggerate contact.

What you need to understand is that football is a contact sport.

When you’ve got a player who exaggerates contact, it’s an act of simulation.

“If the game is going to get its act together, it needs to bring in retrospective action as a normal part of the game.
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