Celtic 3-0 Rangers: All too familiar Old Firm tale – where does Philippe Clement go from here?
It was the first day in September but it might have been May. The final whistle sounded and the Celtic fans erupted. Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin turned and headed straight down the tunnel. Philippe Clement approached referee John Beaton and … shook his hand. It wasn’t the officials that were the problem here. The Rangers manager knew he wasn’t able to get away with that.
Celtic skipper and man of the match Callum McGregor led his teammates round the stadium. Kyogo Furuhashi, who scored once and might have had a hat-trick, frolicked in the corner with the Green Brigade. It felt for all the world like a party and the first leaves of Autumn are yet to fall.
The Tannoy man played Roll With It, with its pointed line – as far as Rangers are concerned – about it being “all too much for me to take”. The Ibrox side look done and the harvest moon has still to form in the sky.
Glasgow, the dear green place, is Celtic’s. Although Brendan Rodgers was at great pains to stress that nothing is won at this stage of the season this was, in the ancient sweep of Old Firm history, a meaningful result. An epic one, even. It nudges Celtic ahead of their rivals in the great Old Firm storyboard – 170 wins to 169.
How appropriate that it is Rodgers who is the incumbent manager when this landmark reconfiguration should occur. He has helped enormously to even things up and now has overseen 15 wins and just one defeat in 19 meetings across two spells. How fitting that Kyogo, his fellow Old Firm talisman, should have done so much to wreak the damage here, scoring from nearly 30 yards – who says he’s a mere penalty box striker? – to put his side 2-0 up after 39 minutes and generally giving Rangers defenders palpitations whenever he chose to run in behind them. Without or without the ball, he was danger personified.
After overhauling them on wins, Celtic are gunning for Rangers’ record of 55 Scottish titles. They posted an emphatic statement of intent here. Start stitching the clover onto the championship flag. This was the kind of result and performance that has attention-seeking bookies paying out early – if they weren’t doing so already.
Where do Rangers go from here? Where does Clement turn? That’s no Old Firm wins in five now. This felt like a must-win game for the Belgian after last season’s tale of woe but he might have bought himself a little time by sanctioning a wholesale squad clear out. One positive is that none of his newest signings was given a run out here. A mercy, possibly. Rangers might yet improve. They must
What did seem like clemency was Celtic only adding one more goal after half time – but what a goal. Few players will make their Old Firm debuts in such desirable circumstances as Luke McCowan. The new £1.2 million signing from Dundee replaced Reo Hatate with 15 minutes left and just after McGregor had made it 3-0 with another crisp long-range hit. Rodgers noted that playing against Rangers as a Celtic player is a different challenge for “the lungs and legs” but McCowan settled well and showed some nice touches under the watchful eye of McGregor.
The captain was haughty as usual and is now entitled to a well-earned overseas vacation. Rangers, on the other hand, will just have to wait. Next, they travel to Tannadice, which is never an easy place to go.
Celtic were giving debuts – record transfer Arne Engels had came on at 2-0 – and making ceremonial substitutions as if it was a late season game, when the title is already sewn up. James Forrest came on for his 500th appearance. Joe Hart, meanwhile, made the half-time draw. There was a continual vibe of celebration, often manifested in the form of baiting Rangers skipper James Tavernier, from kick-off. Well, from soon after kick off. Because, as often happens in Old Firm games, Rangers started quite brightly before unravelling faster than the Green Brigade’s latest tifo display.
The visitors won a free kick in a dangerous area while the last verse of You’ll Never Walk Alone was still reverberating around the stadium. Many inside the stadium seemed unaware the game had even started. It was felt Rangers’ best chance might lie in the hosts simply not being focused enough and it initially seemed like this might be the case. Like drowsy late summer wasps, had Celtic become drunk on success in this fixture?
Vaclav Cerny’s delivered a dangerous looking ball to the back post that was met by Robin Propper. The defender’s header went out of play. It was a near thing. Cameron Carter-Vickers then bent a ball straight out of play as he tried to find Alistair Johnston on the right. The suspicion that Celtic might not be ‘at it’ persisted.
Rangers fans watching at home and in bars had perhaps had another three or four minutes of comfort wallowing in this illusion. A close call ruling out an opener for Kyogo after six minutes due to offside against Nicolas Kuhn, who provided the assist, was the warning that went unheeded by Rangers. Another good move down the right saw Paulo Bernardo’s dink kept in by Alistair Johnston, who hooked a ball back into the goalmouth. Propper slipped, John Souttar couldn’t mop up and Daizen Maeda swept home in front of Tavenier, who will get the blame. However, a lot had happened in front of him.
Kyogo made it two when he picked the ball up in midfield and advanced a few steps with hair flapping before picking his spot wide of Jack Butland from fully 30 yards. Having taken a bit of time to get off the mark, he has now scored six goals in 11 league games against Rangers. McGregor, meanwhile, wrapped things up with 16 minutes left with a stunning left-footed finish from around the same distance as Kyogo.
Without a doubt, Celtic still have fire in them. They still have a sting to them. The hunger is still as strong as it was. In fact, the indications are that they have grown even more formidable as Rangers supporters bide their time and pray that a new group of acquisitions work out. This is not our first visit here.
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