Celtic were roundly trounced by Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox this afternoon.
The Hoops offered nothing at the home of their rivals as the Light Blues dominated from start to finish to celebrate Derek McInnes' first derby as manager of the club.
Martin O'Neill had major decisions to make in terms of personnel and he picked Kasper Hogh through the middle and Sebastian Tounekti on the left-hand side with Camilo Duran on the right. It was a big call to leave molten-hot Duran in the wide area despite his stunning form as a striker, and it backfired.
Dan Neil opened the scoring with a slick finish in the first-half before new signing Kevin Kelsy's brilliant volley doubled the hosts' lead in Glasgow. Neil, acting captain with Lawrence Shankland injured, netted his second of the day with a peach in the postage stamp and Rangers managed the game to ensure they make the hat for the semi-final draw later.
Celtic were battered and bruised and failed to perform, with none of their stars earning pass marks.
Here's how they rated...
Sam Johnstone: 4 - Seemed to get spooked early doors after a poor mistake almost let in Kevin Kelsy. Flapped at another cross which also almost cost the opening goal and didn't cope at all with the Rangers press when he had the ball at his feet. Made a save or two but also looked culpable when Manny Fernandez scored a header, albeit it was offside.
Colby Donovan: 5 - Had a tough time dealing with the Rangers attack but did what he could.
Cameron Carter-Vickers: 5 - Lost the ball in a dangerous area to Ryan Naderi as Rangers opened the scoring and spent most of the action passing between his defensive partners and Johnstone.
Liam Scales: 5 - Won plenty of headers when Gers threw the ball into the box but was unable to keep the frontmen quiet during wave after wave of attack.
Kieran Tierney: 4 - Defended far more often than he attacked and even when he did get forward, decision-making wasn't at its best and he failed to find a teammate.
Callum McGregor: 4 - Was overrun in the midfield by a rampant Gers side who looked far more up for the scrap than their rivals. Also slack in possession at times. Very quiet.
Mika Baur: 4 - Didn't do nearly enough to establish himself in the midfield dominated by Rangers.
Benjamin Nygren: 4 - Shown a yellow card for a foul in the midfield in the first-half and didn't look comfortable after that. Couldn't shake his man-marker James Penrice and he drifted out of the action even further as the game progressed.
Camilo Duran: 4 - If body language told anything during the first-half it was that the Colombian was disinterested. Was quiet before the break and switched flanks after the restart but even after finally being deployed through the middle, he didn't offer much.
Sebastian Tounekti: 3 - Started nervously and became a passenger during a fixture that cannot accept anything less than 100 percent. Hooked at half-time in the least surprising change of the game.
Kasper Hogh: 3 - Failed to make any sort of impact whatsoever. Was barely involved from the outset and nothing changed until he was subbed.
Subs:
Haissem Hassan: 5 - Looked to get forward with his direct running but perhaps should have played from the start.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 3 - Unable to link up when he came on.
James Forrest: 4 - Like Hassan, he tried to inject some pace into the attack but he was not helped by those in front of him.
Shim Mheuke: 3 - Provided more of a danger than Hogh but still not enough late on.
Jordan Lotomba: 3 - Came on to shore up the defence with the scoreline already sitting at 3-0.
