Scottish Premiership: 3-3 Draw between Rangers and Celtic
In the Scottish Premiership’s most intense title race in over a decade, the Rangers made a commendable comeback from being two goals down, securing a crucial point that could be definitive for the season. This draw, however, leaves Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic leading with a differential of a single point. Yet, Philippe Clement’s team maintains the advantage with a game in hand.
Notably, the Belgian Clement displayed his innate mastery at using replacements to yield positive results. This prowess certainly unsettled the long-held image of Rodgers as Glasgow’s Old Firm tactician. Since his succession from Michael Beale in October, Clement has achieved a praiseworthy turnaround for Rangers, sealing victories in 19 out of 32 league games.
However, Celtic’s manager outsmarted Clement’s team in the first half, thanks to his ingenious planning skills.
Prior to the game start, a newspaper headline had described Rodgers as a less appropriate decision for the game. But he quickly proved his mettle, overseeing a prompt goal by Joe Hart after just 21 seconds into the game.
A relatively slower James Tavernier was caught off-guard by Hart’s long upfield kick and his clearance attempt deflected off Daizen Maeda’s shin into the goal post from 20 yards away. Tavernier’s delayed response to Maeda’s fast pace, combined with Jack Butland’s inability to intervene in time, resulted in this flaw.
Despite the perplexity around Gareth Southgate not recalling Jack Butland to his England squad for the countless clean sheets he kept for Clement’s team this season, the Ibrox scene enabled him to demonstrate his acumen and stable performance amid unfavourable weather conditions caused by Storm Kathleen.
Butland confidently deflected a strike from the notably dominant Maeda, followed by a remarkable fingertip save of O’Riley’s headed attempt. Meanwhile, on the opposing side, Connor Goldson had failed to capitalise on a great heading opportunity and added to his embarrassment by committing a handball offense during corner defense, which was confirmed via VAR analysis.
Nonetheless, O’Riley coolly executed the resulting penalty by waiting for Butland to make his move before driving the ball down the center of the goal. This ignited a tense atmosphere in the stadium, enhanced by the absence of away fans due to security restrictions. The green team’s second goal was met with utter silence, only broken by the rising murmurs of discontent, particularly focused on Tavernier’s obvious unease dealing with Maeda.
Celtic showed resilience, exercising substantial control over the midfield through skillful passing, fluid movement, and strategic pressing, placing Rodgers at the advantage tactically. Furuhashi added to Clement’s defensive worries with his threatening presence. Celtic’s manager was undoubtedly pleased with his squad’s performance, especially given the absence of Scottish midfielder Callum McGregor due to an Achilles issue, which left him fit enough only for a bench position. In contrast, goalkeeper Hart remained relatively unengaged.
However, just before the halftime whistle, Hart demonstrated his capabilities to Southgate, skillfully denying Fabio Silva in a one on one situation. Silva was later yellow carded in the second half of the game for seemingly overly dramatic play, as determined by referee John Beaton after a mere slight contact with Alastair Johnston. Yet, after a VAR review, Beaton reversed his decision, issued a penalty, and annulled Silva’s booking.
Tavernier’s day took a positive turn as he superbly netted the penalty shot, and soon after, Cyriel Dessers managed to score, momentarily stirring joy amongst Ibrox fans. Rodgers was taken aback, but a following VAR examination ruled off the “equaliser” citing a foul by Tom Lawrence on Tomori Iwata in the process.
Despite it appearing momentarily as if Celtic were losing their cool, the tables turned as Rangers increased the pace and pressure of the game. The Celtic manager, Rodgers, reacted around the 65th minute when he added McGregor to the match.
Rangers subsequently scored their next goal courtesy of a sub recovering from recent injury troubles. Abdullah Sima, known for his sporting prowess, capitalised on McGregor’s unfortunate loss of control, bouncing his shot off the same player and tying the game in the 86th minute; much to Clement’s team’s relief.
The stadium was filled with celebration once more, only to be deflated two minutes later. Celtic’s replacement player, Adam Idah, threw everyone off guard by feigning a left-footed shot, only to skilfully slide the ball past the diving Butland from Paulo Bernardo’s excellent pass.
However, the climax was yet to come. That honour was reserved for Rabbi Matondo, who ensured an equal score with a spectacular curving equaliser during injury time, following John Lundstram’s move and defensive errors from Hyunjun Yang.
Following the final whistle, tempers flared a little between the players before Rangers set off on their ceremonial lap of honour in the stadium.