Cyriel Dessers Rangers incident questioned as 'really weird' scenario puzzles onlooking pundits
Cyriel Dessers caused a stir amongst BBC pundits in their live coverage of Rangers' Europa League game against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday evening - with the Nigerian striker seemingly taking HIMSELF off against the Romanian side shortly after Vaclav Cerny had scored a third.
With the Gers already 2-0 up, Dessers had been involved in an incident early in the second half in which he'd been poked in the eye by an opposing player, though he carried on. However, he went down in the area, and that's where he remained as Cerny doubled his tally to put the game beyond doubt just before the hour.
Play had resumed after the goal, before Dessers walked off the pitch and up the tunnel, seemingly without any notice - and that massively took pundit Neil McCann and commentator Liam MacLeod by surprise on BBC Radio's coverage of the game.
With the striker hauling himself off, McCann quizzed: “Dessers, has he just walked off?”
Commentating, MacLeod confirmed that he had been substituted to be replaced by Hamza Igamane, adding: “I think he has, he’s away up the tunnel. He’s taken himself off there I think, Igamane is going to replace him.”
And McCann continued, stating that is was a 'really weird' situation in which the striker looked as though he had walked off unannounced, stating: “That’s really, really weird what happened there. He goes down in the box, and I’m sure he got himself up after getting his eye poked in the middle of the field. He looks as though he just walked off! Straight up the tunnel.”
It turned out to be an inspired substitute regardless, with Igamane bagging the fourth of an absolute rout.