It was a bit confusing at the weekend seeing all the celebrations at the weekend at Parkhead considering Celtic didn’t win.
Well, that’s what Todd Cantwell said, and who are we to argue with him? He said Celtic didn’t win, it was Rangers who lost. So by that logic, Celtic won’t win the league, Rangers will lose it? I’m not sure that’s how football works. There are winners and losers – and it’s clear who’s who in Glasgow at the moment.
It just baffles me about the rhetoric from Rangers after these games as it’s the same all the time. After the Ibrox game in January it was, ‘we’ll see the real Rangers at Hampden’. They lose that one and it was ‘it’ll be different at Celtic Park’. Now it’s ‘we showed we can win at Hampden again’, ‘next year we’ll be a real force’ etc, etc.
It’s just the same old story. The way they’ve reacted to Saturday you’d think they had won the match. Listen, there are no moral victories in this fixture. And Cantwell coming out and saying Celtic didn’t win it, is just back in Fashion Sakala territory. If you are in that Celtic dressing room, you’d stick that away and remember it for cup week.
Cantwell didn’t make much of an impression on the match on Saturday, he would have been best keeping his head down. I understand Michael Beale and James Tavernier have to sell some kind of story. This time it was ‘we played well and deserved something from the game if it wasn’t for some dodgy decisions by the ref and a couple of errors’.
I get that. The Alfredo Morelos effort ruled out was harsh but it was a 50/50 call and not deemed to be a clear and obvious error by the VAR officials. But that was the first real chance they’d had in the game. There was a penalty call in the second half as well, but that would have been soft if it had been awarded too.
I do think Celtic need to be careful with the wrestling in the box. Carl Starfelt got punished for it against Hibs and there were a few instances against Rangers they were running the risk. I didn’t quite get Beale’s complaining about handball from Jota for the second. It didn’t hit his hand and even if it did it would have been accidental and not from the goalscorer, so the rules would have allowed it anyway.
It was a little bit desperate and perhaps some deflection. They can write all the letters to the SFA they like but look at all the stats. Celtic had more possession, more chances, more shots on goal, more corners, Allan McGregor had more saves to make. It was a close game but can anyone really say Rangers did enough to win it? I’m not even sure Rangers fans would believe that.
They also have to take into account the fact Celtic were not at their best. It wasn’t a vintage display from Ange Postecoglou’s side. A lot of that might have been down to the way Rangers pressed and shut down the spaces. Individual errors did cost them. But while Rangers made it uncomfortable at times, Celtic also forced these errors with their pressing. It works both ways.
At the end of the day, Celtic were below par but still had enough in the tank to win the match. That’s the concern for Rangers here – not a source of comfort. Are they wanting credit for not getting hammered by Celtic?
To me, that just sounds like they want a pat on the back for mediocrity. Rangers will need to be much better at Hampden, because Celtic certainly will be. Reo Hatate was a big miss for them at the weekend. He’s been such a key player in these encounters and his absence was a big blow. Aaron Mooy made it but he clearly wasn’t fully up to speed.
Mooy’s been terrific in recent months but the things that make him so effective weren’t quite there. He’s been brilliant at taking the ball in tight areas and removing opponents from the play. But on Saturday he was guilty of giving the ball away too many times and it gave Rangers some encouragement.
It came down to the big players producing the goods though. Rangers looked to Morelos, Ryan Kent and Malik Tillman, but Celtic got it from Kyogo and Jota. Those players have now got a track record of coming up with something special when it really matters – and that is why Celtic have one hand on the title again.
Beale has done well in making sure Rangers pick up wins on a regular basis against the rest of the division. People can slate the standard but believe me, it’s not that easy doing it week in, week out. But ultimately he’ll be judged on games against Celtic. The record is now played three, lost two, drawn one.
They can point to improvement but we heard that last season in the final derby at Celtic Park when Fashion Sakala hit the post. Excuses and hard luck stories don’t wash. Nor do promises of what might happen next year. There’s still a lot to play for this season.
The Scottish Cup is now huge – for Rangers. They had a bit of a free hit at Celtic Park but there is nowhere to hide at Hampden. The pressure will be massively on them and while Celtic will want to win, Rangers will need to. Rangers fans will accept the rhetoric this time – or some of them will – but they won’t if it’s a similar story the Monday morning after the semi-final. They are hanging on to any sign of positives but the talk might have actually just made their task even harder.
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