Five major talking points from Celtic’s victory over Rangers | OneFootball

Celtic extended their domestic dominance by beating Rangers on penalties in a thrilling Scottish League Cup final derby yesterday.

Daizen Maeda scored the decisive spot-kick, 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.

Nicolas Kuhn scored in the 87th minute, 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 a penalty shoot-out.

Here are five major talking points from the game.

It’s a painful defeat for Rangers

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

Journalist 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 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 at them.

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 Glasgow derbies, but this defeat will hurt him and the team for a long time.

Clement’s adjustments nearly worked

Clement made a few tactical adjustments, and they nearly paid off.

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

Clement made a bold decision to start with James Tavernier and devised a strong plan to stop Kyogo Furuhashi and Maeda.

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

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

They had 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.

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 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 are something else.

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

Cometh the hour, Cometh the hero, Cometh the Kuhn

Kuh 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 Hoops fans must enjoy every moment of his sublime brilliance for now.