Rampant Rangers blew a supine Celtic away to storm their way into the Premier Sports Cup semi-final, as Derek McInnes’s men claimed a thoroughly deserved win at Ibrox in the first Old Firm derby of the season.
Rangers were the better side in every aspect of the game, dominating their opponents physically and tactically, with McInnes’s gameplan allowing his men to suffocate Celtic and in the end, claim a straightforward victory.
Stunning finishes in either half from captain Dan Neil and another cracker from Kevin Kelsy sealed the triumph, but in truth, it could and probably should have been more. Nico Raskin had a goal disallowed for offside and Emmanuel Fernandez missed a sitter, while Celtic barely offered anything at all at the other end.
Here are the talking points from a jubilant Ibrox…
McInnes silences doubters as he gets tactics spot on
It was just a couple of weeks ago that many Rangers fans were starting to have doubts over their manager, and whether he was cut out for the unique challenges of the Ibrox dugout. That all seems a long time ago now.
His team had rattled off four wins that were more functional than full of flair, but here, the handbrake was well and truly off. The Rangers manager got his tactics spot on.
A concern that Rangers fans may have harboured when the teamlines dropped, and it seemed as though their manager was setting their team up in a 4-4-2, was that Celtic may have been able to seize the initiative in midfield. But McInnes had an ace up his sleeve.
The outstanding James Penrice was playing narrow, with Ryan Naderi also dropping in deep, ensuring that Rangers always retained the numerical advantage in the middle of the park, which made it hugely difficult for Celtic to play through the thirds as they prefer to do.
The result was that Rangers completely dominated proceedings, blunting Celtic and their conductor, Callum McGregor, with the visiting players constantly having to play backwards.
Furthermore, by going man-for-man, McInnes suffocated Celtic’s attempts to play out short from goal kicks, and the visitors had no answer. McInnes had faith in his back three to deal with the Celtic attacking threat, and they did so at an absolute canter.
A seriously impressive performance – both from Rangers, and their manager.
Pathetic Celtic need to lick their wounds and think again
On the flip side of that coin of course is the performance of Celtic, which was so lacking in almost every department that it almost beggared belief.
While huge credit for that has to go to Rangers, of course, Martin O’Neill’s side hardly helped themselves either, and he will have cause to examine his own role in all of this too before the rematch in the Premiership at Celtic Park next weekend.
Tactically, O’Neill had no answer to the Rangers set up. Physically, his players were dominated. His big attacking players, Camilo Duran and especially Kasper Hogh, whose performances are starting to become a concern for Celtic, were anonymous. They were lacking in ideas. And yet again, when the chips were down – as they were in Linz during their humiliating Champions League exit – they folded.
There will be questions asked yet again of the Celtic board and the team building over the summer after this, and rightly so, but they should still have more about them than this.
They were in a battle, here, and they didn’t seem to realise it. A bafflingly poor showing.
Dan Neil announces himself as a Rangers player
As with his manager, there were some early doubts over Neil after his arrival from Sunderland in the summer, with some unconvinced by his early displays. And even more so that he has what it takes to lead the team in Lawrence Shankland’s absence.
The midfielder made a mockery of those concerns here. Quite apart from his superbly taken double, Neil was at the forefront of Rangers’ dominance in the middle of the park, showing incredible energy, winning his battle against McGregor and no little quality on the ball.
A brilliant display on the day he announced himself as a Rangers player.
Celtic selections blow up in their face
To say that eyebrows were raised when Celtic manager O’Neill plumped for the out-of-form Sebastien Tounetki over Haissem Hassan after an impressive showing from the Egyptian in midweek is rather understating it, with the only possible justification being the theory that Tounetki may be more willing to do a defensive shift.
As it turned out, after 45 minutes of not very much at all from the Tunisian, Hassan was stripped and thrown into the action. Within a minute or two, he had contributed more than the man he replaced, taking the ball on a 50-yard run to force Rangers onto the back foot before drawing a booking for Olwethu Makhanya.
That was to prove a fleeting moment of promise from Celtic, with the tone set early on by their keeper Sam Johnstone, picked ahead of Viljami Sinisalo, who was a bag of nerves.
Experienced as he may be, Johnstone looked shellshocked by what he had walked into at Ibrox. A terrible attempt at a pass out wide to Kieran Tierney was instead flopped straight to the feet of Kelsy, who should have had scored, but pulled his effort wide. He then flapped at a Penrice cross, with Liam Scales bailing him out with an incredible goal line clearance from Kim Minsu.
He rather embodied Celtic’s performance – unsure, careless, and completely overwhelmed.
Mouthwatering round two awaits
For all its faults, and the fact that no away fans being present here detracted from the occasion somewhat, the Old Firm derby remains a captivating fixture. And we don’t have to wait too long for the next one.
Ibrox was absolutely rocking here, and no doubt Celtic Park will be the same when the teams meet again next Sunday, but the dominant performance here from Rangers makes it an even more intriguing prospect.
How will Celtic react, and adjust to the Rangers tactical blueprint? Will Rangers be able to replicate it at the home of their great rivals?
Thankfully, we wont have to wait too long to find out, but on this showing, Rangers will be licking their lips at the prospect.
