In a typically dramatic encounter at Ibrox, there were plenty of talking points, 90-minute heroes and the inevitable scapegoats to be hung, drawn and quartered in the court of public opinion. From a pure footballing point of view, Monday’s 2-2 draw between Rangers and Celtic was a little more scrappy than most neutrals would have liked. There is always a case for arguing mistakes, rather than moments of genius, had the greatest bearing on the result in any game.
Tactically, however, this one made for an intriguing contest. And there was enough room, within the structures put in place by the respective coaches, for the best players to express themselves. Michael Beale tweaked his formation to grant Ryan Kent a more central role in the Rangers attack, playing in behind the front two of Alfredo Morelos and Fashion Sakala. If it didn’t work perfectly, few schemes in football ever do.
Ange Postecoglou saw no reason to mess with his favoured 4-3-3 shape, handing a debut to Alistair Johnston at right back and trusting in the experience of James Forrest on the right wing, and used his bench well to inspire that late equaliser for a valuable point. Both gaffers could claim to be pleased with elements of the game. Each will know there are obvious areas still in need of improvement.
What did we learn?
- There were obvious encouraging signs for Rangers fans, who can see indications of improvement under Beale – and hints of better times ahead.
- Celtic supporters, meanwhile, can point not merely to their team retaining a nine-point lead in the Premiership, but a good few moments of actual quality in a game where they weren’t at their best.
- Let’s start with the opening goal. While plenty of focus will inevitably be on the mental lapse that caused Alfredo Morelos to play such a wildly dangerous pass, with secondary blame being afforded to John Lundstram for losing out in a tackle and James Tavernier for not stopping Daizen Maeda, the goal wasn’t pure accident. There was an element of Celtic design in it, too.
Take a look at the first screenshot here and you’ll see how Celtic looked to closedown Rangers options in the opening minutes. Glen Kamara is surrounded by four Celtic players before he’s even managed to control the ball.
When Morelos gets on the ball a moment later, he’s in the middle of a tight grouping of five Celtic players. And the next picture, from a different angle, shows how effectively Kyogo Furuhashi was shutting off both of the obvious safe passes.
So, yes, it’s far from smart play by Morelos. But not an entirely unforced error.
The shift
Clearly intent on getting Kent on the ball, Rangers actually took over half an hour to find their playmaker in a traditional No. 10 position, in between the Celtic midfield and defence. When Ben Davies did squeeze a pass into that area between the lines, Kent turned, drove at the Celtic defence – and caused panic.
Second half Rangers revival
- With Kent’s central positioning apparently so key to what Rangers were trying to do in the first half, there’s a slight irony – or a sign of managerial smarts at half-time – in the fact that the Rangers equaliser came from him holding his position on the left in order to create space.
- True, Celtic –completely imbalanced by the loss of left back Greg Taylor to injury – did offer their hosts a helping hand courtesy of Josip Juranovic’s positioning when Allan McGregor went long towards Sakala.
- From there, though, Morelos makes a really good run to the right, dragging Carl Starfelt onto the flank while Cameron Carter-Vickers is forced to confront Sakala.
- As Johnston tucked in to provide cover, all Kent had to do was hold his line and wait.
- Look at the space between Kent and Johnston when the Rangers player receives the ball. The rest is individual skill. But this also demonstrated the value of off-the-ball running, in this case by Morelos. And the importance of maintaining a cohesive back four.
The Rangers penalty that allowed them to take the lead again comes from Sakala’s direct running. And plenty of people have been quick to point the finger at Juranovic, who is beaten for pace by the Rangers forward. But look at the positioning of Starfelt as his team-mate, playing out of position and having been thrown on as an early sub for his first post-World Cup appearance, is confronted by an opponent who has already shown that he has the beating of him. Any coach in football would want the centre-half to be a yard or two deeper, just to provide a bit of cover in the event of the fullback being skinned. That’s where the danger area is. And that’s where Starfelt ends up diving in.
The value of hanging around
- It genuinely looked, to most observers, as if Rangers were going to hold on for a victory.
- They were organised, compact, difficult to break down.
- There will, of course, be plenty of fingers pointed at individual players over the Celtic equaliser.
- But let’s credit Kyogo for understanding the value of just standing still.
- When the ball is played from Jota to Aaron Mooy in the penalty area, the entire line of Rangers defence naturally drops back a few yards to cover the danger.
- Kyogo stays where he is. And is in splendid isolation when the ball drops to him for the equaliser.
The final verdict
- Honours even. Between the coaches as well as the teams.
- As our political leaders like to say, mistakes were made. Lessons learned? We’ll find out in April, when they meet again.
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