Rangers moved to within a point of Celtic on Saturday night after a 2-0 win at St Mirren, helped on their way by a 16th-minute penalty that looks like another almighty VAR blunder.

James Penrice went down under the faintest of touches from Samuel Ramos, referee Nick Walsh pointed to the spot and VAR let it stand, according to Sky Sports. Ryan Naderi scored the penalty, and settled the away side down. 

Not many thought it was a penalty

Sky’s co-commentator James McFadden called it “the softest of soft penalties” as soon as it was given. At half-time, Chris Sutton went further: “We all felt it wasn’t a penalty. There has to be sufficient contact. Penrice has played Nick Walsh like a piccolo for the penalty.”

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Penrice didn’t sound sure either. “I’ve not seen it back. I’m being told it is a penalty, it isn’t a penalty. I don’t know,” he told Sky Sports. Sutton’s verdict: “He sounded pretty guilty.”

Absolute disgrace they just got a penalty for this…. my god hahahaah WOW https://t.co/52GLEXMJ4q

— Canadian Celtic Bhoy (@cancelticbhoy) November 7, 2026

The Ref’s View, an account on X that breaks down decisions, called it a “very soft penalty” and said: “VAR should be overturning that.” It later described “very minimal contact to use an SFA buzzword”.

Remember the reverse fixture

Funnily enough, when these sides met at Ibrox in September, St Mirren’s Ismeal Kabia went down in the box after Emmanuel Fernandez caught him on the foot. Referee Don Robertson waved it away, VAR cleared it after a short check, and Rangers won 1-0 with a stoppage-time winner, according to the St Mirren Mercury.

The SFA’s head of referee operations, Willie Collum, later said on the VAR Review show that “for us this is a penalty kick”. To our eyes, Kabia took far more contact than Penrice did on Saturday night.

A lot of luck

A week earlier, Penrice escaped without even a booking for a studs-up challenge on an Aberdeen player in the League Cup semi-final, and VAR didn’t step in. Former referee Keith Hackett said it “should have been red”.

Rangers kept 11 men on the pitch and won 1-0 at Hampden, with Naderi turning in Penrice’s shot for the winner. A week later, the same pair did the damage in Paisley.

Referees and VAR seem to be hunting for a new low, and Rangers keep landing on the right side of it. Interesting to say the least.

What it means for Celtic

Celtic’s lead is down to a single point, with the sides level on 12 games. The difference between the top two is now about the width of the contact Penrice felt.

Celtic can go four points clear at home to Kilmarnock on Sunday. On this evidence, they can’t count on any breaks from elsewhere.