There are defining weekends in every title race.
Key momentum shifts and specific results which may not appear to be particularly seismic at the time but, in retrospect, take on a far greater significance.
Put it this way, if Rangers do go on from here to secure a second successive league crown, then the events of Saturday and Sunday at both Celtic Park and Motherwell, may well be looked upon as sliding doors moments in the season.
Perhaps things might have felt very different at Fir Park yesterday had Giorgos Giakoumakis not fluffed his lines so carelessly in the dying moments of his side’s 0-0 draw with Livingston.
Had the Greek bagged a late penalty in added time or managed to get a proper connection with an even easier chance, just three yards out from an open goal, then Celtic would have hit the top of the table by Saturday night.
And the pressure would have transferred to Lanarkshire just in time for Rangers to make what seemed like a potentially hazardous lunchtime trip.
In those circumstances, who knows how Steven Gerrard ’s players might have responded to going one goal down - again - as thy did when big Bevis Mugabi popped up with the opener, smashing the ball beyond Allan McGregor after the keeper had clawed out Sondre Solholm Johansen’s header.
After dropping two points on Wednesday night at home to Aberdeen, this was a sticky moment in the making for Gerrard and his team.
But. just 24 hours after being let off the hook by Celtic and Giakoumakis,
Rangers then mustered the kind of reaction which could prove to be a game changer where the destination of this season’s championship is concerned.
It wasn’t just the six goals that they crashed past Liam Kelly. It was the nature of this performance which may, in the fullness of time, be looked upon as the moment the champions rediscovered the confident swagger which saw them coast so comfortably to last season’s title.
A slender four point lead at the top of the table is anything but insurmountable with some 26 games still to be played but if this is the way in which Rangers intend to go on about their business then it may prove difficult for Celtic or anyone else to stand in their way.
Gerrard described the performance as being ‘close to inch perfect’. He also said a rampant win like this one had been ‘in the post’ for some time.
Given that Rangers’ form has been flaky up until now, the manager will be hoping that this was indeed a turning point where his side’s campaign is concerned.
Certainly, the sudden emergence of Fashion Sakala as a serious operator will have given Gerrard a shot in the arm with regards to his attacking options at a crucial stage in the season. Sakala’s pace has not been in question but yesterday’s performance from this smiling assassin suggests there may be a lot more under his bonnet than just a roaring twin turbo.
Gerrard clearly believes the striker is now properly settled and ready to make an impact. A Fir Park hat-trick is not a bad start.
But, perhaps even more crucially, Gerrard also found starting places for two of his tried and trusted old timers in keeper McGregor and midfield linchpin Steven Davis.
Davis is the man who really makes Rangers tick form the middle of the park but Gerrard has appeared reluctant to be over reliant on a man who will turn 37 at the start of the New Year.
In attempting to find a more long term solution, Gerrard has weakened his own team but he may now be coming around to the idea that Davis is just about irreplaceable in terms of the composure and craft he brings to the table.
While the Northern Irishman shows no signs of slowing up, despite his advancing years, the manager might be a great deal better off just letting him get on with it.
Gerrard has spent much of the season complaining about injuries and various other ‘curve balls’ caused by the pandemic which he blames for depriving him of a settled starting XI.
But it’s been his choice to continually drop Davis and McGregor in and out of his team and - assuming neither of them is about to keel over any time soon - it would seem sensible for Gerrard to stick with them for as long as their old legs keep going.
Ironically, Ange Postecoglou may also be cursing his own decision to leave Kyogo Furuhashi on the sidelines for most of Saturday’s stalemate.
David Martindale made a point of expressing his gratitude for this glaring omission before a ball had even been kicked and the Livi boss and his players didn’t half make the most of it.
Celtic hardly managed to muster a decent shot at their goal before Ayo Obileye’s unfathomable brain melt in the dying moments of the match, when he clipped Furuhashi round the back of the head. Obileye was sent packing for his stupidity as well as costing his side a spot kick but ultimately he too had Giakoumakis to thank for damage limitation.
The crestfallen striker will no doubt recover from this set back but Postecoglou will still have the conundrum to solve of how best to shoehorn both he and Furuhashi into the same attack.
Leaving the Japanese talisman sitting on the bench does not seem like a sensible solution and it’s a mistake the manager will be unlikely to repeat any time soon.
This error of judgement cost Celtic the chance to pile some meaningful pressure on their old rivals at the top of the table. Only time will tell just how significant this weekend’s chain of events may prove to be in the final analysis.
