Hibs pundits react after red cards derail Rangers clash as one call deemed 'ludicrous' and f-bomb dropped

The Hibs red card incidents have sparked debate on another weekend of refereeing controversy.

Nathan Moriah-Welsh's red card left Hibs with nine men against Rangers.

Scottish football managed to go a whole week before refereeing controversy struck again at Hibs vs Rangers.

In the wake of divisive calls in Hearts vs Celtic last weekend, the Easter Road side were reduced to nine men against Rangers in their 2-0 Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat. Jordan Obita was sent off for two bookings, one for a foul on Tom Lawrence but it's his collision with Rabbi Matondo for the second that has divided opinion.

Ref Steven McLean deemed his connection with the winger when tracking back worthy of yellow and then red. Two minutes later and Nathan Moriah-Welsh was getting his marching orders for a lunge on John Lundstram, and there was no VAR review.

Both calls have warranted a range of punditry opinions, from those slamming decisions to those in agreement. Here's a selection of them.

Neil Lennon (Viaplay)

On Obita: "He [Obita] was too emotional in the second half and I don't know where his mind was at. It looked like he was begging to be sent off. Before his second yellow he got involved with McCausland who was injured and the Rangers physio to try and push him off the pitch.

"He needed to calm down but he didn't. It was a blatant body check on Matondo and he lifted the arm. He gave the referee a decision to make. It was absolutely crazy."

On Moriah-Welsh: "At first glance it looks like a two-footed challenge and you think 'he's in trouble here'. But for me I think it's a yellow and should have been reversed."

Stuart Lovell (Sportscene)

On Moriah-Welsh: “Nick Montgomery was unhappy with it but he goes in with some amount of pace. It’s a lunge and he is never getting the ball there. He says there was limited contact on John Lundstram but that meets pretty much all the requirements for serious foul play. He is lunging, he is out of control and it’s two-footed.

"The only question you could have is does it endanger the safety of the opponent - I mean maybe because he doesn’t catch his feet but it doesn’t have to be all of the above just some of the above. I was in the stadium and there was a gasp from the people around me. It was worse than reckless, it was a dangerous challenge and people have got to remember referees are asked to stick to the laws of the game and I thought that met the criteria for a red card.”

Kenny Miller (Sportscene)

On Moriah-Welsh: “It was a wild challenge. It was two-footed."

Tam McManus (X)

"Remember the referees threatened to go on strike here after criticism from managers? It might be players & managers shortly as the officials in Scotland are f****** hopeless. I mean absolutely embarrassingly bad. VAR has exposed the level of referees here."

Michael Stewart (Viaplay)

On Obita: "His first yellow was silly. I said at the time he didn't need to make the tackle. Matondo plays it off, that is not a yellow card, that is ludicrous refereeing. VAR can't get involved. That is an absolute nonsense, certainly from that first wide angle. You talk about officials getting involved - really?"

On Moriah-Welsh: "It's a silly, silly challenge. He dives in, he jumps in. I think he comes down the side of Lundstram. For me, it's a stupid tackle, is it a red card though? There's more than enough to constitute VAR sticking with the red card. But it's all to do with the boiling over of the decision. I don't think he challenges him through. He dives down the side of him. Red card? I am not sure."