Chris Sutton has hit back at Graeme Souness after he accused the former Celtic striker of trying to influence VAR during the Old Firm derby.
Sutton was commentating on the game, which ended in a 3-3 draw, and he was highly critical of the decision to award Rangers a penalty for Alistair Johnston's challenge on Fabio Silva. The forward was initially booked for diving by referee John Beaton, but he ended up overturning his decision and giving Rangers a penalty following a VAR intervention.
Sutton branded the decision "embarrassing" and questioned why VAR felt the need to intervene, leading Souness to claim he was trying to influence the officials. "I'm reluctant to go strong on Chris Sutton because he turned up at a charity event two weeks ago for me and we chatted, he's funny," Souness said on talkSPORT.
"I thank him again for that. But I can't believe how biased Chris is when he's talking about Rangers. He was saying 'it's embarrassing, it's not a penalty'. It was easily a penalty. It's not even a discussion to have for me that.
"And here's a question. Do VAR listen to the commentary for the game? Because I'm thinking 'Chris is going that strong here he's trying to influence whoever is listening maybe in the VAR.'"
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Despite being informed that VAR officials do not actually hear the commentary, Souness added: "I thought 'Chris is gone that mad on this he's trying to influence someone on VAR who is listening."
Sutton has now responded to Souness' comments, claiming the former Rangers star is "talking utter nonsense". He told the Daily Record : "I have a lot of respect for Graeme as a player, manager and pundit.
Souness accused Sutton of trying to influence VAR with his commentary during the Old Firm derby (Getty Images)"But he is talking utter nonsense to suggest I was trying to somehow influence VAR. It would have been better if Nick Walsh WAS watching Sky Sports – as the officials might have made the right call rather than rewarding cheating.
"I don't know what he was watching when he called Beaton to the monitor, but it certainly wasn't the TV coverage. Even in the unlikely event if they were, I'm not sure what kind of power Graeme thinks I wield.
"Does he think I'm God?! I don't have that kind of sway unfortunately – give me another few months! In seriousness, it wasn't a Celtic thing or a Rangers thing, I just called that incident as I saw it."
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