THE best team won on the day. Unfortunately for Fashion Sakala, it was the side that will soon add the Premiership title to this Viaplay Cup success that showed their quality and their class.
The striker had vowed that Rangers would prove their superiority at Hampden. He had made the case for Michael Beale’s side being the top outfit in the country and insisted that Rangers were a ‘better club’ in comments that added another layer of intrigue to a fixture that doesn’t require any hyperbole.
Celtic had refused to bite back. The feeling at Parkhead was that they would do their talking on the pitch and this was a harsh lesson for Rangers as their belief and their momentum were still not enough to give them Old Firm bragging rights or a winner’s medal.
The silverware had green and white ribbons on it once again. This was a reminder of how far Rangers still have to go under Beale’s guidance, evidence that winning matches is one thing but that winning cups is quite another.
That is what Ange Postecoglou’s side have shown themselves to be more than adept it. The league flag will now follow and Rangers face a summer rebuild before they can claim to be challengers, never mind prove their credentials as champions.
Sakala had been bold with his words and needed to be brave with his performance. In the end, his contribution summed up a forgettable afternoon for Rangers that offered moments of hope but nothing more tangible than that.
The added insult came at the whistle as a banner proclaiming ’22 trophies in 11 years – We set the standards’ made a mockery of the message from the Union Bears last weekend at Livingston.
Once again, Celtic proved they could walk the walk rather than just talk the talk. That will be a lesson for everyone at Ibrox.
It was no surprise that Sakala was given a start in the Rangers attack. Indeed, his form in recent weeks merited it as the tactical switches that Beale has implemented have given him a clearer role in the side rather than the one that he was utilised in by Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Sakala does not possess the physical or tactical traits to enable him to operate as the main striker in this team but he has been a solid performer when allowed to start from the right and support Alfredo Morelos. On the other flank, a more central berth has been beneficial for Ryan Kent.
This was an afternoon where Beale needed all three to be at their best. Come the interval, he would have been demanding more from each of those he had trusted with a jersey as Rangers lacked confidence and cutting edge in the final third and caused Celtic few problems.
The unpredictability that so often bemuses and frustrates in Sakala’s game can be his most potent weapon at times. If he doesn’t know what he is going to do next, there is little chance that his opposite number is going to either.
The Zambian had few opportunities to ask serious questions of Greg Taylor and he was a largely peripheral figure in the opening exchanges. A quarter of an hour in, a pass from Malik Tillman bounced off Sakala’s knee and out of play on the near touchline in a moment that encapsulated his contribution to that point.
Rangers had no control at that stage and their usual out ball of finding Alfredo Morelos and asking him to bring others into play was a forlorn, fruitless endeavour.
Sakala couldn’t use his pace to any effect. A James Tavernier pass allowed him to get behind for the first time midway through the half but his cross was blocked and a glimmer for Rangers had gone as quickly as it had opened up.
Another cross from a similar position failed to reach its target either and the ricochet back off Sakala denied Rangers the consolation prize of a corner. Joe Hart remained untroubled.
The issues caused by a midfield that were laboured out of possession and lacklustre in it spilled into the attack. Rangers had nothing as a collective from the halfway line forward and the individuals that would normally be relied on didn’t offer anywhere near enough.
A Tavernier cross that Cameron Carter-Vickers cleared – with Sakala ahead of him and Malik Tillman behind him – was as close as Beale’s side came in the opening half an hour.
They trailed at break as Kyogo finally took a chance after spurning a couple. When the deficit was doubled and the Japanese netted again, Rangers had the hallmarks of a beaten side.
Kent had struck the far post just minutes beforehand. On the rebound, Sakala couldn’t find the net from the tightest of angles and that moment looked definitive when Celtic extended their lead.
The fans behind McGregor’s goal continued their celebrations with an extended pyrotechnic display. But the scrambled effort from Morelos and introductions of Ryan Jack, Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell sparked Rangers into life.
Those changes were long overdue. All of a sudden, Beale’s side had a zip about them, they looked like a team that were here to win a cup final rather than let it pass them by.
That turned out to be the case. It was an afternoon of regret, an occasion of what might have been as the final whistle silenced one half of Hampden and sent the other side into raptures.
Beale gathered his players on the pitch while Postecoglou took his on a lap of the Celtic end. The contrasts in moods and messages could not have been starker or more profound.
The actions from Beale in the long run will speak louder than the words in the immediate aftermath here. That is when we will see if Rangers can back up their talk with titles.
