MICHAEL Beale tonight bemoaned the soft goals that Rangers conceded in their 2-2 draw with Celtic at Ibrox and admitted the Scottish title is now the Parkhead club’s “to throw away”.
Beale’s team recovered well after falling behind to a fifth minute Daizen Maeda strike in the cinch Premiership match in Govan this afternoon following a bad mistake by Alfredo Morelos.
They took the lead in the second-half thanks to a spectacular Ryan Kent effort and a James Tavernier penalty after referee John Beaton ruled that Carl Starfelt had tripped Fashion Sakala inside his own area.
However, Kyogo Furuhashi equalised with just two minutes of regulation time remaining to ensure the visitors secured a point and maintained their nine point lead at the top of the table.
Beale was unhappy at his charges’ defending for both the Maeda and Furuhashi goals and confessed that it will take a Celtic collapse in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign for Rangers to win the league.
“In the big games it is big moments isn’t it?” he said. “I am sure there will be a little bit of regret on both goals, more than a little bit of regret. We should do better.
“We are the home team. As a group when I worked with them previously they prided themselves on clean sheets. That is the third time we have let in two goals, so we are going to have to improve on that.
“Certainly, in big games at home I am not sure we are going to be able to let in two goals, and not two the way that we did. That might seem harsh on the team but that is the reality.
“We are no further away than we were five games ago. The points are the same. There’s 18 games to play. It is Celtic’s to throw away in terms of the league.”
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