Rangers penalty should never have been awarded, says Motherwell’s Lukas Fadinger

Rangers made it three wins from three across all competitions on Saturday, edging out Motherwell 1-0 at Ibrox in a Scottish Premiership fixture that produced exactly the kind of tight, controversial finish neither side wanted to be defined by. But in the away dressing room afterwards, the abiding memory wasn’t Derek Naderi’s early opener or Minsu Kim’s missed penalty — it was the decision that gave Rangers that spot-kick chance in the first place. And now Motherwell midfielder Lukas Fadinger has gone public, telling the Daily Record in no uncertain terms that the penalty should never have been given.

It’s a claim that will resonate with Motherwell supporters still fuming after the final whistle, and it drags the Ibrox contest back into the kind of officiating debate that has followed these two clubs’ recent meetings around the country.

Rangers made the perfect start. Just twelve minutes in, Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen inexplicably attempted to dribble past the advancing Naderi rather than clear his lines, and the German pounced, pinching the ball away and rolling it into an empty net for one of the simplest goals of his career. It was the platform Derek McInnes’s side needed, and by that stage Rangers were already down to Plan B up front — captain Lawrence Shankland had been forced off early with a suspected hamstring injury, a blow that has since been confirmed as a fresh setback likely to sideline him for an extended spell.

The game’s pivotal moment arrived shortly before the interval. Dan Neil floated a cross into the Motherwell box, Djeidi Gassama nipped in ahead of his marker, and right-back Tom Sparrow was adjudged to have brought him down. Referee Duncan Nicolson pointed to the spot without hesitation. What followed provided some unexpected comic relief for the home support — Gassama and Kim Min-su each wanted the responsibility, with Kim eventually winning the argument, only to blaze his effort well wide of Paulsen’s goal, sparing Motherwell further embarrassment on the day but doing nothing to settle the argument about whether the award was correct in the first place.

From there, Motherwell enjoyed long spells of the ball without ever truly threatening an equaliser, with Emmanuel Fernandez in particular praised for a composed, disciplined display at the back — a marked improvement after weeks of criticism over his form. Substitutes Daisuke Yokota and debutant Kevin Kelsy both passed up presentable second-half chances to make the game safe, but in the end it didn’t matter. Rangers held out, extended their perfect start under McInnes to three competitive victories in a row, and moved up to fifth in the table, six points off leaders Celtic and level on points with a Motherwell side that arrived at Ibrox unbeaten in the league.

It’s the Sparrow-Gassama incident that has dominated the aftermath rather than the result itself. Social media reaction in the immediate aftermath was fierce and split predictably down partisan lines, with Motherwell supporters branding the award “incredibly soft” and pointing out that in their view the contact from Sparrow was minimal, while sections of the Rangers support insisted it was a stonewall decision that no VAR review could realistically have overturned.

Adding fuel to the fire, former referee Keith Hackett weighed into the debate publicly, suggesting there had been “plenty of noise” about the officiating at Ibrox and that VAR had seemingly not been functioning as it should throughout the contest. That criticism wasn’t limited to the Sparrow incident either — deep into stoppage time, Motherwell felt they had a legitimate claim for a penalty of their own for what they viewed as a foul on Fadinger inside the box, only for referee Nicolson to wave away the appeals and bring the game to a close without so much as consulting the pitchside monitor. For a Motherwell side that had matched Rangers for long periods and arguably deserved something from the game on the balance of general play, that late non-award compounded the sense of injustice around the earlier

It’s against that backdrop that Fadinger chose to speak out. According to the Daily Record, the Austrian midfielder was unequivocal in his assessment that the penalty awarded against his side for the Sparrow challenge on Gassama simply shouldn’t have stood, adding his voice to a growing chorus of Motherwell figures unhappy with how the afternoon’s key moments were officiated. Coming from a player rather than the club’s coaching staff, the comments carry a different weight to the usual post-match managerial complaints about officiating standards — Fadinger was on the pitch for both contentious incidents, giving him a first-hand vantage point that pundits working from broadcast replays don’t have.

It’s not the first time Fadinger has found himself at the centre of penalty controversy involving Rangers. The Austrian was the villain of an earlier meeting between these two sides at Ibrox, adjudged to have fouled Gassama on the edge of the box only for VAR to confirm the contact occurred outside the penalty area — a call that split opinion among former officials, with ex-Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg later suggesting on review that the contact actually began just inside the box and that Rangers were “unlucky” not to be awarded a spot-kick that day. Fadinger has also been on the losing end of penalty debates as a scorer rather than a culprit, netting from open play at Ibrox earlier this year before conceding what would have been a second penalty shout inside the same half. If nothing else, the 25-year-old has become something of a recurring character in the ongoing saga of Rangers-Motherwell penalty controversies.

For those less familiar with him, Fadinger is a 25-year-old Austrian midfielder who joined Motherwell in May 2025 after leaving Rheindorf Altach in his home country’s top flight, signing a two-year contract at Fir Park. He impressed enough in his debut Scottish season to earn a one-year extension in May 2026, tying him to the club until 2028, and has established himself as a regular fixture in central midfield under successive Motherwell head coaches. Predominantly deployed as a defensive or central midfielder, Fadinger’s underlying numbers from last season — including a completion rate above 90% and a healthy chunk of tackles and interceptions — paint the picture of a reliable, combative presence in the middle of the park, which makes his willingness to speak out on a refereeing decision, rather than simply focus on his own performance, notable in itself.

For Rangers, the result extends a small but meaningful run of momentum under McInnes, who has watched his side battle back from a miserable start to the season that included Europa League and Conference League qualifying exits before consecutive league wins over Aberdeen and Falkirk steadied the ship. McInnes himself wasn’t in the technical area for the Motherwell match, serving part of a touchline ban stemming from previous comments about officiating standards — a ban that was partially upheld on appeal and will also keep him out of the St Mirren fixture in midweek before he returns for Rangers’ first Old Firm meeting of the season later in September. It’s a slightly awkward footnote given the fresh officiating storm his side now finds itself at the centre of, even in his enforced absence from the dugout.

For Motherwell, the frustration is compounded by context. Alfred Johansson’s side arrived at Ibrox unbeaten in the league this season, sitting third in the table after four matches, and by most neutral assessments matched Rangers for large stretches of the game without finding the finishing touch to show for it. A first defeat of the season delivered on the back of a refereeing decision they feel was wrong, followed by a stoppage-time shout of their own being waved away, is precisely the kind of afternoon that breeds lingering resentment — and Fadinger’s decision to voice that frustration publicly, rather than let it go unremarked, suggests it’s an issue Motherwell have no intention of dropping quietly.

Neither club has the luxury of dwelling on the row for long. Rangers turn their attention to St Mirren in midweek before the first Old Firm derby of the campaign against Celtic later in the month, a fixture that will also mark McInnes’s return to the touchline. Motherwell, meanwhile, will look to bounce back and re-establish their unbeaten league form against a fixture list that offers no shortage of opportunity to put Saturday’s disappointment behind them.

Whether Fadinger’s comments prompt any formal response from the Scottish FA or simply add another chapter to an increasingly feisty rivalry between these two clubs remains to be seen. What’s clear is that, penalty aside, both sides have bigger issues on the horizon — Rangers with Shankland’s fitness and a daunting run of fixtures against Celtic, and Motherwell with the challenge of converting encouraging performances into results that match the promise of their unbeaten start.