Every assertion, claim and counterclaim made in the wake of Rangers’ 3-0 win over Celtic should really be accompanied by Professor John Curtice warning, in that soothing manner of his, against the dangers of reading a national swing into one single result.
Even accounting for all the caveats and qualifications required when discussing a “meaningless” contest at the dog end of season 2022-23, however, there is context to be found in the content of Michael Beale’s first managerial victory in this fixture. Without saying the Ibrox gaffer deserves to be put alongside the boffins of Bletchley Park, is it possible that he’s close to cracking the Celtic code? Judging by the way his team anticipated almost every opposition move in this game, you do wonder if Beale has a spare Enigma machine safely tucked away in a back office at Auchenhowie.
Getting the obvious disclaimers out of the way first, any fair judge would recognise that Ange Postecoglou’s team selection for his sixth derby of the season contained a few obvious weaknesses. Angeball does not work, cannot work, without fullbacks good enough to play as surefooted auxiliary midfielders capable of making quick decisions in a congested area of the park. Events at Ibrox merely underlined this universally accepted truth.
Beale was smart enough to exploit this, giving his own fullbacks licence to pinch up and occupy the areas Celtic like to use as staging posts for their best counterattacks, cutting off that threat out at source. With one or two exceptions.
The Rangers boss also deployed Todd Cantwell as a free-wheeling agent of chaos, giving the midfielder licence to play as a false nine, a winger, a No. 10 … wherever he felt there was the best chance of causing havoc. Yet also handed him a crucial role without the ball, as part of a midfield lock on Celtic’s most creative types.
And, in a neat role reversal on previous performances, Beale’s team managed to bounce their opponents into making mistakes at the decisive moment. Those were forced errors committed by Celtic. From the off, Rangers were looking to flood specific areas, with Photo 1 showing Cantwell, Ridvan Yilmaz and, on the ball, Ryan Jack charging down the left wing in a move that ended with the fullback putting in a teasing cross (see Photo 2) unclaimed for want of better forward movement.
Stretching Celtic almost every time they went forward was key for Rangers, whose pace and intent generated space for the opening goal (see Photo 3) – first by forcing the visitors deep, creating all that Redzone room for John Lundstram to shoot, but also by drawing the attention of Matt O’Riley away from Cantwell, who would be left free to bury the rebound.
Finding space was something of a recurring theme for Rangers, with Photo 4 showing the option Rabbi Matondo could/should have taken in this early break, instead of shooting himself.
Celtic did manage to muster some first-half chances themselves, either side of John Souttar making it 2-0 with a powerful header from James Tavernier’s corner just after the half hour mark. A Liel Abada pass through to Hyeongyu Oh, which saw the Korean striker hit the post after just six minutes, was a reminder of the visitors’ threat, while Matt O’Riley did find himself in a couple of promising positions (see Photos 5 and 6) between or behind the Rangers lines, without making them count.
And, if Anthony Ralston doesn’t have quite the same touch or mobility as Alistair Johnston, the Scottish right back did get into good areas, Photo 7 showing a decent cut-back for Abada and Photo 8 taken in the build-up to another cross that led to a penalty appeal against Connor Goldson.
But Rangers generally kept a very tight watch on Celtic, especially in a second half that saw the game taken further beyond the defending champions, who found their opponents in no mood to give them any time or space on the ball. Photo 9 shows Rangers forcing Carl Starfelt to play a pass into Ralston under pressure, with Cantwell shadowing Callum McGregor. And Photo 10 demonstrates just how many bodies Rangers could get around the ball when someone like Reo Hatate was threatening to turn.
Building from this base, Rangers had opportunities to add to their lead, with Photo 11 illustrating just how much space Fashion Sakala had to exploit from an excellent Nicolas Raskin through ball. And the home side did to Celtic what the Hoops had done to them so often this season – forced a mistake and then punished it in clinical fashion – for the killer third.
Photo 12 shows Hatate having overhit his pass back to McGregor, kept in check all afternoon by his midfield minders, and Cantwell pouncing on the error. The fact that Hatate had nowhere to go with a ball into feet was testament to the work done by Rangers without the ball.
Even then, of course, McGregor and Starfelt shouldn’t have been beaten by one opponent (see Photo 13). But they were. Leaving Sakala to do the rest. Beale will hope, of course, that his first victory over Celtic – as a gaffer in his own right – means something more than just three worthless points in a title race long since settled. We’ll see.
For now, he can reflect on a job well done. A plot well hatched against opponents who, regardless of missing individuals, still turned up with a pretty strong squad. And a bit of code-breaking that, if hardly conclusive, at least offered him a couple of clues about the way forward.
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