Keystone Cops defending left the Rangers penalty area looking a bit like Nicola Sturgeon’s garden.
But James Tavernier reckons it was the officials at Parkhead who let Celtic out of jail on Saturday. The Rangers captain has often had the thankless task of fronting up after Old Firm defeats. There have been explanations, excuses and sometimes even apologies to supporters.
But it was different on Saturday. Tavernier is angry rather than sorry. The Light Blues leader was wheeled out once again to talk after defeat by the bitter rivals but his head was held high. He knew this wasn’t like the Viaplay Cup Final when Celtic did a number on his side. Rangers were well in the fight at Parkhead at the weekend and it was a clash of fine margins. The Hoops had more of a killer instinct and they managed to turn off the life support on the Ibrox clubs’ title chances.
Yet weirdly, there were still plenty of positives to suggest brighter times might be ahead. Beyond the summer, certainly, as Michael Beale will get the chance to create a new-look group with so many members of this squad on their way.
But also in the shorter term – with the Scottish Cup semi-final showdown with the neighbours just a few weeks away. If Rangers can perform like they did in periods at Parkhead, they’ll be no pushovers at the National Stadium. And rather than saying sorry, Tavernier has chosen to hang on to a cause. This time it’s injustice.
The full-back racked up an incredible 100 goals for Gers at the weekend with his double against Celtic. His sublime free- kick leveller was No.99 and his headed second – which set up a frantic finale – made it a ton. But rather than think about the personal achievement following the final whistle on Saturday, Tavernier clung on to that sense of injustice.
The ruled-out Alfredo Morelos’ goal. The claim of a Jota handball for Celtic’s second goal. He didn’t mention the shirt tug on Morelos in the box in the second half but that will also be used in the coming weeks.
Whether he had a case or not was up for debate – but it’s all fuel for the fire going to Hampden where they need to salvage something tangible from the season.
Tavernier said: “Like I highlighted, I didn’t feel Alfredo’s goal was a foul and then I felt the referee should maybe have been given an opportunity to look at it to see if it was a foul. Seeing their second goal coming off Jota’s arm and for that not to be looked at is hard.
“But we as a team have got to look past those decisions and try and get it over the line ourselves. We’re just disappointed that we didn’t do it.”
Tavernier liked a lot of what he saw out there. He said: “The shape we had worked really well. After 15 minutes, we started getting the ball and moving it really well. We were frustrating them and creating our own chances.
“I felt we could have created more chances but to go in at half-time 1-1 we felt we could go out there and do the same. We did when we started the second half really well.
“We controlled parts of the game but we made mistakes. Even at 3-2 we had big chances to even it up. It’s small margins and you need to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Tavernier has suffered setbacks during his time at Ibrox but he’s dusted himself down. The title-winning captain from two seasons ago will do it again this week. He said: “Our next game, the St Mirren game, is important because we need a run of consistency going into the semi-final. It’s a massive game in three weeks. But St Mirren is massive because we need to get back to winning ways and work on ourselves.”
Tavernier played down his own achievement but the ton-up didn’t go unnoticed by his gaffer. Beale will properly mark it when the wounds from the weekend have healed over but the manager will refuse to get too downbeat either.
He said: “One hundred goals for James is a fantastic personal achievement. When the dust settles it’s important we recognise that.
“He played well on Saturday. There were a lot of good performances in the Rangers team. We are showing we’re making improvements.
“We are showing we’re gaining trust in the tactical ideas and the relationships on the pitch. It was fine margins on Saturday. We don’t get anything for it but we’re going to continue marching forward for certain.”
Beale was left with a sense this was one that got away. Gers were a threat in periods but also shot themselves in the foot. Celtic’s second and third goals came from criminal mistakes from central-defenders Ben Davies and John Souttar.
But Beale said: “My boys played well. I was disappointed for them because the work they put in, they deserved more. You can learn from defeat and there were positives.
“But the ultimate feeling was the mistakes were made by those in blue shirts. The game was in our hands. I won’t pick on those boys for it, because they were genuine, honest mistakes but they were costly.”
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