Chris Sutton slams John Beaton after ‘daft’ Jefte incident in Rangers loss v Celtic

Chris Sutton slams John Beaton after ‘daft’ Jefte incident in Rangers loss v Celtic

Rangers left-back Jefte was labelled “daft” by Chris Sutton after his first-half yellow card against Celtic, but referee John Beaton wasn’t spared criticism.

Speaking on co-commentary for Sky Sports Football (1 September, 12:49pm), Sutton and Neil McCann were in agreement that Jefte’s body-check on Nicolas Kuhn was not worthy of a booking.

The challenge looked to be a 50-50 between the two players in a fairly regular coming-together, but it was the Gers left-back to whom Beaton showed the yellow card just 19 minutes into the contest.

Sutton said: “It’s a daft challenge and he’s put himself under massive pressure there – I’ve got to say, I don’t think he’s deserving of a yellow card for that though.”

McCann added: “He’s just been caught up there, but I agree with you. It’s a soft yellow, and there’s John Beaton pointing out: one, two, three, four – I don’t think they certainly came from him.”

Jefte and Rangers run ragged by sensational Celtic

Jefte was hardly the worst player on the pitch for the Gers at Parkhead, but his early yellow card, the first of nine in total across the match, did leave the Brazilian walking a tightrope for the rest of the match.

The 20-year-old left-back was, like three other Light Blues team-mates, pulled out of position by Alistair Johnson’s run to the byline and cross into the middle, which Daizen Maeda stroked home to make it 1-0.

Beaton raised his yellow card in the defender’s direction just two minutes later, having totted up several Rangers fouls in the opening period of the match with Jefte the unlucky player to be booked first.

Celtic’s second and third goals – both long-range efforts from Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor respectively – came right down the middle with Jefte not at fault, but that won’t make the loss any easier.