Hibernian's Victory Over Rangers: A Controversial Penalty Decision

David Gray left Ibrox with three points, a statement win and one major flashpoint to address.

Hibernian’s 2-1 victory over Rangers will be remembered for Josh Campbell’s nerve from the spot and Callum Wright’s stoppage-time dagger, but the afternoon’s biggest argument came long before the late drama, in the chaos of a first-half corner and a tangle between Vanja Dragojević and Jason Kerr.

The incident that lit up Ibrox

With the game still finely balanced, Kerr tried to attack a corner inside the Rangers box. Dragojević grappled with him, and as the ball swung in, the Hibs defender hit the turf. Play initially moved on, Rangers broke up the pitch, and the home crowd roared at the prospect of a counter.

Then came the pause. VAR stepped in. Referee Don Robertson went to the monitor.

Moments later, he pointed to the spot.

The decision split the stadium. Rangers furious, Hibs delighted, the neutral scratching their head over where the line now sits on contact at corners. For Gray, though, once he had seen the replay, the call was clear.

“Straight away the referees have come in and spoke to us about it,” the Easter Road head coach explained afterwards, referencing the pre-season briefings on penalty-area grappling. Corners, he knows, are now under a different kind of microscope.

“At the time I didn't think much of it and my goalie coach said straight away it could be a penalty,” Gray admitted. Hibs barely had time to process that thought. Rangers had already broken upfield before VAR dragged everyone back to the original flashpoint.

Only after the chaos settled and he saw the footage again did Gray’s view harden.

‘No option but to give it’

“Seeing it back now I think the officials and VAR have no option but to give it,” he said. “He's put them in a position where they have to give it. He's not looking at the ball, he's impeding the player that's trying to head the ball and the ball lands in that area.

“It's left the referee no choice but to give the penalty and I think it's the right decision.”

That framing matters. In Gray’s eyes, this was less about a soft award and more about a defender inviting trouble in an era when every shove and grab is replayed in forensic detail. Dragojević’s focus on Kerr rather than the flight of the ball turned a routine corner into a turning point.

Campbell did the rest from 12 yards, setting Hibs on their way.

Late twist, firm conviction

Rangers looked to have salvaged something when Jordan Obita turned into his own net with around five minutes left, sparking belief inside Ibrox that a late winner was coming. The hosts surged, the noise rose, and Hibs seemed to be clinging on.

Then came the sting.

Wright’s solo effort in stoppage time stunned the stadium and sealed a famous away win, flipping the narrative from Rangers’ late charge to Hibs’ ruthless composure under pressure.

Through it all, the penalty remained the thread that ran from first-half controversy to full-time inquisition. Gray never wavered. In a game of wild swings and raw emotion, he reduced the key call to something simple: if you ignore the ball and haul down a man in the area, under VAR’s gaze, you live with the consequences.