Five major talking points from Celtic win v Rangers

Celtic extended their domestic dominance by beating Rangers in a thrilling Scottish League Cup final derby, which was decided on penalties.

Daizen Maeda scored the decisive spot-kick for the Bhoys, while Ridvan Yilmaz missed his opportunity as Celtic ran out 5-4 penalty shoot-out winners at Hampden Park on Sunday.

The match ended 3-3 after extra time. The Gers took the lead through Nadim Baramin after pouncing on a mistake made by Greg Taylor.

The left-back made amends when he scored the equaliser, although the shot took a deflection on the way. Maeda made full use of a defensive mistake to make it 2-1 for Celtic, but Rangers restored parity 15 minutes later through Mohamed Diomande.

When Nicolas Kuhn scored in the 87th minute, it felt like he had netted the winner, but Danilo brought Rangers back into the game again when he scored from a header shortly afterwards to take the match to extra time and then to a penalty shoot-out.

Here are five major talking points from Celtic win v Rangers.

It’s a painful defeat for Rangers

“Football can be cruel,” said Rangers boss Philippe Clement after the game.

Keith Jackson wrote for the Daily Record before the game that had the match taken place a few weeks back, the narrative would have been how badly Rangers would lose, but now the situation has changed.

And he was spot on. Carrying on from the confidence of holding Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox, Rangers produced a spirited performance to answer all challenges thrown away at them.

In the end, after 90 minutes, there was nothing to separate the two teams. Clement rightly said that he was proud of his players. The Gers boss has not won in six Old Firm matches, but this defeat will hurt him and the team for a long time.

Clement got the tactics spot on

Taking lessons from previous defeats, Rangers made a few adjustments and that worked for them.

They scored an early goal, something they haven’t done against Celtic quite often.

Clement made a bold decision to start with James Tavernier, and Rangers devised a strong plan to stop the Japanese duo of Kyogo Furuhashi and Maeda.

When they had the ball, Rangers players flocked up in numbers to snuff them out. Maeda did score from a mistake, but Furuhashi was ineffective.

Rangers also showed ruthlessness in front of goals, although some of their decision-making could have been better.

Finally, they brought energy in the middle of the park and didn’t allow Callum McGregor to dictate the game.

Two crucial moments

Rangers fans have every right to be aggrieved about the Vaclav Cerny penalty incident, where the referee felt the winger was fouled outside the box.

Clement questioned why the referee didn’t get the VAR communication to check the incident.

He said: “I cannot control this, but I know all of you like to dig deep into things so maybe it is a very important moment to dig into why there was no communication. It’s a game-decisive moment.”

Rangers should have done better when they had a goal at their mercy after a brilliant movement where they had a four-on-one.

Hamza Igamane was in control of the ball, and all he needed to do was make the right decision. He didn’t, and the Rangers missed the chance to make it 2-0.

Celtic – what are they?

Time after time, year after year, Celtic have developed a winning mentality: even in adverse situations, you cannot simply rule them out.

They have mastered the art of coming back into the game, grinding out results, and changing the tempo even when the opposition is heavy on them.

Other teams might have cracked down, as we’ve seen Spurs succumbing under relentless pressing, but Celtic under Brendan Rodgers is something else.

They always find a way to score. They always find a way to win.

The Bhoys were nowhere near their best, but they had something extraordinary within them – Tom English rightly says – “Celtic’s mental strength is a thing of wonder.”

Cometh the hour, Cometh the hero, Cometh the Kuhn

This guy—Kuhn—is a joy to watch. He was head and shoulders above the rest. He tortured Jefte throughout the game and produced a great-quality moment to give Celtic a 3-2 lead.

The German winger scored in every round of the tournament. He is special.

Celtic might not be able to hold on to him for long, but for now, the Hoops fans must enjoy every moment of his sublime brilliance.

What a game! Football is the real winner.