Sunday 23 April 2017 20:35, UK
James Tavernier claims Leigh Griffiths told him Celtic should not have been awarded a second-half penalty as they beat Rangers 2-0 in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
Callum McGregor gave Celtic the lead after 11 minutes as Brendan Rodgers' side dominated proceedings in the opening half but Rangers started the brighter after the re-start with Pedro Caixinha introducing Barrie McKay and Joe Dodoo at the interval.
However, Tavernier was penalised for a sliding tackle on Griffiths in the box in the 50th minute, allowing Scott Sinclair to double his side's lead from the spot.
The Gers full-back was booked during the incident, with referee Willie Collum consulting with assistant Don Robertson over the decision, but Tavernier was adamant it was the wrong call and claims Griffiths told him as much.
"I thought it wasn't a penalty, I thought I got the ball first," he told Rangers TV. "Griffiths thought it wasn't a penalty when I spoke to him.
"It was just one of those decisions that the ref behind the goal's given the penalty. It's just one of those where it's just been given and you can't do anything about it."
Caixinha revealed after the game that he had altered his pre-match team talk after assistant Helder Baptista had raised concerns about his players' frame of mind before the semi-final and the Portuguese said he thought his side were too tense.
"Helder came to me just before the end of the warm-up and told me: 'Please, in your pre-match speech, don't be strong, don't be so tough. They need to feel a little bit more freedom.' He thought they were totally focused but not enjoying it," Caixinha said.
"Maybe when you are not feeling that freedom, you don't enjoy it and perform the way you need. So we were a little bit blocked. If you are blocked, even if you have the best organisation and ideas in the world, then you cannot perform.
"It wasn't a question of being frightened, it was a question of not letting things flow in the direction you need to take them."
Caixinha said Rangers showed Celtic too much respect and insisted his side did not press effectively throughout the game.
He added: "I think we gave the opponent too much respect, especially in the first half. We dropped off too much on the park. It was not what we were preparing for during the week.
"They deserved to win and we could have done, and should have done, much better."
