adminCeltic manager Martin O’Neill has plenty of questions to answer after Rangers defeated his side for the second time in just seven days.
The Hoops are now only two points clear at the summit of the Scottish Premiership, with their fierce Glasgow rivals bringing an end to their run of six consecutive victories to open the campaign.
Rangers ran riot at Ibrox last weekend, but back at Celtic Park in front of their home supporters, a strong reaction was expected from the hosts. A first-half goal from Ryan Naderi proved to be the difference between the sides, although the visitors will believe the scoreline could have been even more convincing. Here’s how the Celtic players fared in our report card.
Viljami Sinisalo unconvincing between Celtic sticks
GK – Viljami Sinisalo, D
Not convincing between the sticks for Celtic. You can’t be regularly parrying tepid shots back into the six-yard box – that will come back to bit you, as it did when Rangers opened the scoring. A bit of a stinker.
LWB – Kieran Tierney, B+
A considerably improved display compared to last weekend. Tierney is arguably the Celtic player who can hold his head highest tonight. Smelt blood in an organised Rangers defence early on and had the energy to get up and down the pitch, firing a shot against the crossbar in the first half.
CB – Liam Scales, B
Couldn’t quite time his run and win the header from an early set-piece, meaning the resulting Trusty strike was ruled out for offside. Showed good pace on occasions to cope with the tricky Min-su Kim.
CB – Auston Trusty, D
Started the match by firing a superb volley with his weaker foot, only for the effort to be ruled out. It was downhill from there. Trusty was far too slow inside the box for the Rangers goal and appeared unable to recover, with Gassama weaving around the defender to fire a shot against the post moments later.
CB – Cameron Carter-Vickers, B+
Celtic will be thankful that Carter-Vickers did not collapse like some of his defensive teammates. Kept Kevin Kelsey quiet and had little trouble winning headers to clear balls back up the pitch. Produced a huge and courageous block in the first half after Gassama struck the post.
RWB – Colby Donovan, B
Had his hands full against Djeidi Gassama but generally rose to the challenge. Offered a threat going forward too, almost grabbing an equaliser shortly after the interval with a powerful header.
Veteran midfielder ‘not good enough’ against Rangers
CM – Callum McGregor, D
Well below the required level this afternoon. Celtic needed aggression in midfield but couldn’t find it, even from their captain, who appeared to lack the energy today. Not good enough.
CM – Mika Baur, C
A similar assessment to his midfield partner McGregor. Frustrating with his set-piece deliveries at times, failing to send the ball into the box with enough purpose.
RW – Luke McCowan, C
Looked dangerous when cutting inside on the occasional moment but was mostly unable to make an impact before being withdrawn at half-time. The way he crumbled while defending the corner before the Naderi goal was pitiful.
ST – Camilo Duran, B
Won’t carry much of the blame this afternoon. Worked tirelessly and attempted to create openings whenever the ball came his way. Ran rings around Emmanuel Fernandez and earned fouls that probably should have resulted in the Rangers man being sent off.
LW – Benjamin Nygren, C-
Mostly anonymous during his 62 minutes on the field. Nygren didn’t appear comfortable playing in that position on the left and lacked the aggression required for an Old Firm encounter.
SUBS – Kasper Høgh (C), James Forrest (B), Haissem Hassan (B-), Sebastian Tounekti (C), Shim Mheuka (N/A).
Celtic Report Card –
Viljami Sinisalo
D
Kieran Tierney
B+
Liam Scales
B
Auston Trusty
D
Cameron Carter-Vickers
B+
Colby Donovan
B
Callum McGregor
D
Mika Baur
C
Luke McCowan
C
Camilo Duran
B
Benjamin Nygren
C-
Kasper Høgh
C
James Forrest
B
Haissem Hassan
B-
Sebastian Tounekti
C
Shim Mheuka
N/A
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