Celtic beat Rangers in Old, Old Firm Clash
Article by Jim Payne
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I ended my column last week by saying that if I could shake off a cold I would be at Hampden today to watch the Scottish League Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers. Alas the cold turned out to be a lung infection and so I had to make do with watching the game on TV.
The atmosphere sounded as grizzly as ever with any number of sectarian songs being aired without comment from the men behind the mics or back in the studio although I must commend the summariser Michael Stewart – formerly of Manchester United, Hibs and Hearts- whose analysis was crisp, literate and objective. These are rare qualities in football coverage. So far as of 18.36 this Sunday evening there have been 19 arrests reported in connection with the game and, an uncorroborated Twitter report of a Celtic supporter having been stabbed. I hope that last rumour proves to be untrue but as is usual the real mayhem that follows these toxic affairs will be well away from the stadium.
The game was a damp squib and that will have helped keep things relatively sane inside the stadium. Celtic were two up by the thirty first minute after two well taken goals by first Leigh Griffiths and then Kris Commons. Rangers defending at both goals was feeble and although Commons’ strike was powerful Rangers’ keeper Simonsen probably should have done better. Celtic missed a couple of pretty decent chances before half time and were denied a chance of a third when referee Thomson stopped play to award a free kick to Celtic with Griffiths clean through on goal. Thomson also missed a blatant elbow by Rangers captain McCulloch on Griffiths at the start of the second half and made one or two other strange decisions but was, mercifully, not a significant factor in the outcome. I have seen worse refereeing displays.
Celtic’s best players on what was a terrible, heavy, gluepot of a pitch which did not suit either teams’ passing games were the improving Bitton and skipper Scott Brown. The game was almost dead as a contest by half time and petered out as Rangers made no impact in the second half against a Celtic side that coasted against a side that only had one attempt on goal – and that might have been an attempted cross- all day. As one arch critic of Ronny Deila’s tactical nous put it ‘what was he doing starting off with a goalkeeper?’ I hope that Craig Gordon knows how to keep warm on a cold day although he could have been wearing his coat and a Cossack hat for all I saw of him.
Celtic will be glad to have come through this potential tricky match unscathed and through to a final of a competition which the club has not won in 6 years and although they did not play with the flair and panache they have shown in one or two recent matches this was a professional display in a match that didn’t, as frequently happened with the original ‘Old Firm’ matches, live up to the hype.
Rangers may well be glad to have got things out of the way. Hearts lead them by 16 points (with 2 more games played) in the race for the only guaranteed promotion spot but the Edinburgh side lost its unbeaten league record recently and the tale may have a few twists left in it. What happens at Rangers is impossible to predict these days as the soap opera that is there off-field lot – more Crossroads than Dallas it must be said- shows no sign of ending. Were they to achieve promotion there was precisely nothing to suggest they would make any impact in the top league. They were worse than I thought they would be.
In the final Celtic face Dundee United who beat Aberdeen 2-1 in the other semi-final. The Dons will feel mightily aggrieved as they looked to be hard done by when Adam Rooney had what looked a perfectly good goal disallowed that would have given his team a 2-1 lead but I wonder if Derek McInnes has mixed feelings when he thinks that his side only has 16 more matches to play this season.
Celtic has at least 21 more. United beat Celtic just before Christmas and will fancy their chances in a final that Celtic have lost twice in the last six years. The League Cup no longer guarantees automatic qualification for European football and has rather lost its lustre for many Celtic fans but this should be a decent match between two teams capable of attractive football. A much improved Hampden pitch is needed.
Celtic travel to Dens Park to play Dundee in the Scottish Cup next weekend. Paul Hartley’s side has given Celtic two really hard games this season and although it could cause a few problems in terms of fixture congestion this is an occasion where Celtic will be keen to ensure that they are still in the cup next Saturday evening even if it means a replay is needed. Expectation amongst the support that the club can land a domestic treble are growing. The first and most highly publicized test was passed this afternoon. Harder examinations are ahead.
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I ended my column last week by saying that if I could shake off a cold I would be at Hampden today to watch the Scottish League Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers. Alas the cold turned out to be a lung infection and so I had to make do with watching the game on TV.
The atmosphere sounded as grizzly as ever with any number of sectarian songs being aired without comment from the men behind the mics or back in the studio although I must commend the summariser Michael Stewart – formerly of Manchester United, Hibs and Hearts- whose analysis was crisp, literate and objective. These are rare qualities in football coverage. So far as of 18.36 this Sunday evening there have been 19 arrests reported in connection with the game and, an uncorroborated Twitter report of a Celtic supporter having been stabbed. I hope that last rumour proves to be untrue but as is usual the real mayhem that follows these toxic affairs will be well away from the stadium.
The game was a damp squib and that will have helped keep things relatively sane inside the stadium. Celtic were two up by the thirty first minute after two well taken goals by first Leigh Griffiths and then Kris Commons. Rangers defending at both goals was feeble and although Commons’ strike was powerful Rangers’ keeper Simonsen probably should have done better. Celtic missed a couple of pretty decent chances before half time and were denied a chance of a third when referee Thomson stopped play to award a free kick to Celtic with Griffiths clean through on goal. Thomson also missed a blatant elbow by Rangers captain McCulloch on Griffiths at the start of the second half and made one or two other strange decisions but was, mercifully, not a significant factor in the outcome. I have seen worse refereeing displays.
Celtic’s best players on what was a terrible, heavy, gluepot of a pitch which did not suit either teams’ passing games were the improving Bitton and skipper Scott Brown. The game was almost dead as a contest by half time and petered out as Rangers made no impact in the second half against a Celtic side that coasted against a side that only had one attempt on goal – and that might have been an attempted cross- all day. As one arch critic of Ronny Deila’s tactical nous put it ‘what was he doing starting off with a goalkeeper?’ I hope that Craig Gordon knows how to keep warm on a cold day although he could have been wearing his coat and a Cossack hat for all I saw of him.
Celtic will be glad to have come through this potential tricky match unscathed and through to a final of a competition which the club has not won in 6 years and although they did not play with the flair and panache they have shown in one or two recent matches this was a professional display in a match that didn’t, as frequently happened with the original ‘Old Firm’ matches, live up to the hype.
Rangers may well be glad to have got things out of the way. Hearts lead them by 16 points (with 2 more games played) in the race for the only guaranteed promotion spot but the Edinburgh side lost its unbeaten league record recently and the tale may have a few twists left in it. What happens at Rangers is impossible to predict these days as the soap opera that is there off-field lot – more Crossroads than Dallas it must be said- shows no sign of ending. Were they to achieve promotion there was precisely nothing to suggest they would make any impact in the top league. They were worse than I thought they would be.
In the final Celtic face Dundee United who beat Aberdeen 2-1 in the other semi-final. The Dons will feel mightily aggrieved as they looked to be hard done by when Adam Rooney had what looked a perfectly good goal disallowed that would have given his team a 2-1 lead but I wonder if Derek McInnes has mixed feelings when he thinks that his side only has 16 more matches to play this season.
Celtic has at least 21 more. United beat Celtic just before Christmas and will fancy their chances in a final that Celtic have lost twice in the last six years. The League Cup no longer guarantees automatic qualification for European football and has rather lost its lustre for many Celtic fans but this should be a decent match between two teams capable of attractive football. A much improved Hampden pitch is needed.
Celtic travel to Dens Park to play Dundee in the Scottish Cup next weekend. Paul Hartley’s side has given Celtic two really hard games this season and although it could cause a few problems in terms of fixture congestion this is an occasion where Celtic will be keen to ensure that they are still in the cup next Saturday evening even if it means a replay is needed. Expectation amongst the support that the club can land a domestic treble are growing. The first and most highly publicized test was passed this afternoon. Harder examinations are ahead.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
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