Brendan Rodgers is within 90 minutes of scratching a professional itch. A criticism of the Celtic manager has been the failure to claim a major domestic honour during his previous spells in England. This success over Rangers and the scheduling nuances of the Scottish League Cup means Rodgers could end that wait before November is out, with Aberdeen lying in wait upon Celtic’s Hampden Park return.
Rodgers barely needs endorsement of his early months in charge but tangible reward always helps. This derby tonic arrived just days after the wounding Champions League defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach and, it must be noted, at a venue where Celtic have endured several horror shows in recent times. The final should be worthy of high-profile status; Celtic and Aberdeen, for now, look the best two teams in Scotland.
“It has been a great start,” said Rodgers of his Celtic baptism. “You can see this team’s mentality, their spirit and their skill. There is a huge desire to succeed here and the team is performing at the top level. But in order to put a stamp on that, you want to win trophies. In order to win those trophies, we have to get to cup finals.”
In other words: so far, so good. This semi-final was always likely to be played in context of what came so closely before. Celtic’s 5-1 hammering of Rangers in September meant analysis of what chasm may exist between the Glasgow clubs would overshadow the ins and outs of a marquee occasion. Rangers were so appallingly open in that league game that they were hardly going to replicate Ajax of 1970 next time around, even if they had the resource to consider as much.
Celtic may have required the 87th-minute intervention of Moussa Dembélé, a player for whom adulation grows and grows, to breach Rangers’ resistance but they were always the more menacing side. In Dembélé, Rodgers also had one of several players in green and white who seemed the more likely matchwinners. The French striker combined brilliantly with Leigh Griffiths, then flicked home the decisive goal.
This flow of play, in part, shouldn’t be taken as a criticism of Rangers, who were defensively organised to a far greater extent than the last time the teams met. However, there is a recurring question mark over potency. In nine league matches, Rangers have scored only 11 times; the same record as Motherwell and Hamilton Academical. Their attacking threat here was negligible to the point where it was legitimate to question the validity of what spending the Ibrox club have bestowed on forward players.
Dembélé cost a third of the transfer fee Rangers handed to Preston North End for Joe Garner, a forward introduced with 20 minutes to play here and may as well still be running around the Hampden pitch now whilst looking to make some kind of positive impact.
“The gap [to Celtic] is a lot more narrow than people think,” insisted Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager. This sentiment was curious; after beating Celtic in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final, Warburton pointed towards the same gulf he is now denying. In the meantime, Celtic have undoubtedly improved, with scepticism over whether Rangers have done likewise.
Whereas historically Old Firm fixtures may have been overshadowed by bouts of madness either on or off the field, the match was played in a fine competitive spirit amid which football sporadically broke out. Of four yellow cards, only one was for a poor tackle.
Another booking marked a key moment in the first half, the Rangers winger Barrie McKay rightly penalised for toppling far too easily when little more than breathed upon by Jozo Simunovic inside Celtic’s penalty area. Dembélé was lucky to escape a caution for similar theatrics, having thrown himself to the turf between two Rangers defenders.
More positive was an excellent Matt Gilks save from Scott Sinclair after Dembélé had played him through on goal. Aside from that, plus a comedy moment as Gilks and Jason Holt combined to afford Tom Rogic an opportunity he didn’t seem to believe, Rangers’ policy of containment was successful.
The game’s controversial moment – there is always one – arrived four minutes after the interval. Only the referee, Craig Thomson, could explain what he deemed wrong with a Erik Sviatchenko header which found the back of Rangers’ net. Sviatchenko had tangled with Clint Hill but apportioning blame at all, not least to the Celtic player, was harsh to the point of being unfathomable.
Perhaps roused by their lucky escape, Rangers carved out the chance which they later rued. For all Holt wasted it, Simunovic is due praise for a timely block.
Celtic pushed and pressed to an increasing degree as the clock ticked down. Griffiths, a rather handy substitute to call upon, scampered away from Wallace before feeding the player he now has a decent claim to play alongside from the start of games. Celtic’s celebrations emphasised their earlier frustrations. “We got the reward we thoroughly deserved,” said Rodgers. It would have been nonsensical to quibble.
