With 30 minutes to play of this latest one-sided win over their oldest rivals Celtic introduced their new £11million signing Arne Engels for a late cameo. Talk about rubbing it in.
One of a number of expensive signings in the summer window, Rangers can only dream of spending £30million plus in a transfer window these days. The table has turned and it’s not just a growing financial chasm which divides these two clubs now.
The records now show that Celtic have lost just one of their last 13 derbies. That was an end-of-season dead rubber at Ibrox in May 2023, with the league already won.
Over two spells as manager Brendan Rodgers has secured a remarkable record of 15 wins in 19 games, while Philippe Clement has gone five without winning any. Michael Beale had a better record than that.
The latest defeat leaves Rangers five points adrift in the Scottish Premiership after four games and, while Aberdeen will challenge at this, it’s hard to see who stops Celtic making it 13 titles from the last 14 now.
Celtic condemned bitter rivals Rangers to a fifth straight defeat on their home ground thanks to a screamer from Callum McGregor
Brendan Rodgers’s heavily-backed men went into the flagship Scottish Premiership fixture having only lost one of the previous 12 Old Firms
You have to go back to April 1980 to find the last time Rangers lost five straight games at Celtic Park. And this latest one will raise more soul searching over Clement and his team and where they go from here.
The Belgian will cling to chances created – more than usual – and periods of possession. There’s only one stat which counts, of course. And, after terrific displays from Callum McGregor, Paulo Bernardo, Liam Scales and yet another Rangers goal from Kyogo Furuhashi, a scoreline of 3-0 told no fibs. In truth, it could have been worse.
Employing a high press, the visitors offered tentative hope of a better outcome this time. They should have seen the writing on the wall when Cyriel Dessers reverted to type with the first big chance of the game.
James Tavernier charged forward and rolled the ball in behind Celtic defence. Dessers composed himself and cut on to his right foot before striking a tame feeble effort straight at Kasper Schmeichel, playing in his first Glasgow derby.
Devastating against Ross County, Celtic Park proved a rather different challenge for Rabbi Matondo – for Rangers full-stop. The Welsh winger blew another glorious opportunity to lay down a marker when he miscued a header in front of goal from a Tavernier cross loaded with explosive intent.
Brendan Rodgers told his players to weather the Rangers press, stay calm, and break the lines. They did it to devastating effect after eleven minutes, Parkhead erupting in joy before the inevitable flatness brokered by a VAR intervention.
McGregor – a force of nature in this fixture – rolled a superb pass through the Rangers rearguard for Nicolas Kuhn to race on to. Kuhn rolled the ball into the path of Kyogo and the outcome was predictable.
There was always a suspicion of a marginal offside against Kuhn. So it proved when replays rightly cut the celebrations short.
It was a sign of things to come. Within five minutes Parkhead was alive again, Alistair Johnston got to a ball over the top at the byeline and cut the ball across the face of goal. With Robin Propper flat on the deck, it missed Kyogo, but picked out Daizen Maeda to slot the opening goal through the legs of James Tavernier, who had lost him completely. Once again in this fixture the Rangers captain had failed to master the basics of defending. Once again in this fixture Maeda had exposed him.
A rocket fired through the east end air what a chance Reo Hatate missed to make it two before half-time. If nothing else Tavernier had learned his lesson from the first goal, blocking the shot of Maeda when Johnston pulled the ball back across goal yet again. When Bernardo threaded a second ball through to his Japanese teammate Hatate leaned back and scooped the ball over the bar. It offered Rangers temporary, welcome, but futile respite.
Read More
LISTEN: The staggering amount an agent was paid for working on a deal for only 90 MINUTES
When it comes to this fixture, of course, Kyogo Furuhashi bears the deadly powers of a boa constrictor. He wraps himself around defenders and squeezes tight.
Kudos to Greg Taylor for picking the pocket of Vaclav Cerny. Surging forward with the ball the left-back picked out Celtic’s talisman 30 yards from goal. With Maeda to his left, Kuhn to his right, there were options to go wide.
As the Rangers defence backed off, watching the other two, Kyogo exploited the space – passing the ball with deadly precision into the bottom left hand corner of the net. His first goal of the season it was his eighth against Rangers.
They’ll ask questions about Jack Butland. Whether a keeper should ever be beaten from 25 yards is a valid debate and, in truth, the former England number one was nowhere near it. Nevertheless, the quality of the finish couldn’t be disputed.
In every game this season Celtic have scored twice in the first half. It’s mildly laughable, now, to think back to the days when supporters bemoaned the loss of Angeball and the perceived differences favoured by Brendan Rodgers. From a vantage point high in the Parkhead press box it was hard to spot the difference.
Paulo Bernardo had a fine first half, a fine game and looks an absolute bargain at £3.5million. The midfielder couldn’t quite dig the ball out from under his feet as Butland gathered on the line. Despite a bright Rangers start when a three goal lead at half-time wouldn’t have flattered Celtic much at all.
Rangers needed a response. A Bournemouth-style second half miracle.
They started brightly enough. Dessers got in the way – inadvertently – of a Robin Propper goalbound header before Scales – an unfairly maligned defender who comes into his own in this game – blocked a certain John Souttar goal.
The home team saw off a wasteful Rangers side and leapt into the top spot in the league
Almost everything about this afternoon’s fixture seemed familiar, from the emphatic scoreline to the flurry of bookings to the Poznan dance
For Clement the deadline day capture of Albanian Nedim Bajrami was an attempt to find the creative spark Rangers lack on this stage. The new signing was ineligible to play, Tom Lawrence replaced Mohamed Diomande heading into a final half hour when the visitors had to at least ask a question. A
McCausland steered Jefte cut back wide of the target and you felt one those had to go in. As they committed men to attack Celtic looked certain to pick them off.
They nearly did it when Reo Hatate’s through ball offered Kyogo clear run on goal. A poor first touch dragged him slightly wider than he’d have liked and, attempting to lob Jack Butland, the ball dropped onto the sidenetting – a chance to kill the game lost. Turns out he’s human after all.
Any semblance of doubt was removed by a quite sublime strike from Celtic’s captain, the kind of goal he’s now making a trademark. Prolific goalscoring has never been the midfielder’s calling card yet these days he’s making quite the habit of it. All of them from outside the box.
Like a modern day Murdo MacLeod McGregor unleashed a howitzer from 25 yards – a dead ringer for his recent strike against Hibs. There could be no quibbling with Jack Butland’s failure to reach this one.
