Breathless. Just one of the many words that could have described what was a magnificent Old Firm Derby at Ibrox yesterday.
Rangers and Celtic went toe-to-toe right from the opening whistle and produced a game full of quality, drama and probably the worst miss you will ever see by the otherwise impressive Alfredo Morelos.
It was a terrific advert for Scottish football and not the usual blood and snotters that these games tend to produce. All of the goals in the game were wonderfully created and executed. But ultimately it was the men in green and white hoops who came out on top once again.
First and foremost, I have to say that Willie Collum and his linesman got the one big decision in the game absolutely spot on. The red card for Jozo Simunovic was a great call.
While I don’t think it’s intentional from the big defender, you cannot smash your elbow into another player’s face with a bent arm. He clearly caught Morelos and left the officials with little option but to pull out the red card.
That decision left Rangers sitting at 2-2 and playing against 10 men for the last half an hour. It was now so tantalisingly close. They will probably never get a better chance to beat their biggest rivals.
It was the perfect moment to blow the title race wide open for Rangers. But what happened next not only exposed the mentality that exists in both camps when it comes to these games, but it also showed exactly why Celtic went and paid top dollar to get Brendan Rodgers.
After the red card, Rodgers withdrew Tom Rogic and put Jack Hendry on at centre back which I think most watching the match would have called. It was a straightforward change. But it was his next substitution shortly after that which would have caught many by surprise, including myself.
Read more: Matthew Lindsay: Never mind Alfredo Morelos, Rangers missed their opportunity to catch Celtic
Odsonne Edouard came on to replace James Forrest. Celtic now had two strikers up front playing with 10 men. It was an incredibly positive substitution which ultimately won Celtic the game. Most managers in that situation would have put a midfielder on and clogged up the middle of the pitch, played one up top in Dembele in the hope of nicking a goal on the counter or a set play. Not Rodgers.
It was really interesting in his post match interview that he mentioned that Celtic had worked on playing 10 v 11 in training so they knew exactly how to play and how they would combat playing with a man less. That attention to detail and preparation is why he is a fantastic manager.
If Rodgers played a blinder with that substitution, I’m afraid that Graeme Murty missed a trick with his own tactical involvement in the game.
For me, as soon as Celtic went down to 10 men, I would have brought Jason Cummings on and played with the two strikers through the middle.
Read more: Mother of all misses from Morelos proves pivotal as ten-man Celtic edge Old Firm classic
They had to win the game. Rangers got plenty of joy down both wings all day long through Candeias and Murphy, with lots of balls getting flashed across the box. Cummings only got the last 15 minutes and that in my opinion was 15 or 20 minutes too late. In saying that, you cannot legislate for your main striker missing an open goal from barely five yards out in the dying embers of the match.
Morelos actually had a superb match overall. He ran Dedryck Boyata, who endured a torrid afternoon, ragged particularly in the first half but that astonishing miss has ultimately cost his team a deserved share of the spoils. The little Colombian will have a sleepless night or two wondering just how he managed to miss that one.
The gap that looked so big just a year ago has now been closed considerably. I think that was clear to see on the day. That will at least be a slight crumb of comfort for the Rangers supporters.
They have watched their team finally get into a position to beat Celtic but, ultimately, they couldn’t finish the job.
They know they are getting closer to Celtic. They could almost touch it yesterday. But until they actually overcome their fiercest rivals, that gap will still exist in not only points but in mentality. To quote a well worn recent phrase, the natural order has still been maintained.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel