STEVIE G FEELS THE FORCE
Celtic win another derby as Gerrard rages at ref
IT WAS the Old Firm derby Steven Gerrard could afford to lose but Brendan Rodgers could not. That, though, did little to soothe the irritation of Rangers’ new boss, beaten for the first time by a goal which caused him to hiss fury in the face of the fourth official and referee.
Gerrard’s ire was not without cause, especially if his claims were true that the official on the touchline had instructed ‘foul, foul, foul’ down his mic at the moment Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack was felled by Tom Rogic 12 seconds before Olivier Ntcham’s secondhalf winner.
He waited on full-time to make his point to William Collum and it is just as well the referee preaches forgiveness in his day job as a religious studies teacher, for Gerrard’s annoyance was laced with aggression.
‘It’s a foul,’ said Gerrard. ‘ The fourth official is shouting down his mic to say so. It’s blatant, he’s swept his legs away. The ref disagreed but when he sees it back he’ll change his mind.’
Rodgers disputed the perceived injustice, just as he did his opposite number’s assertion that, come the next Old Firm derby in December, Rangers would have narrowed the gap still further on his treble winners of the past two seasons.
‘There is no doubt Steven has improved them and he’ll expect them to get better,’ said Rodgers, ‘but I’ll expect my team to get better as well.’ If the managers had been smiling through gritted teeth when pressed for pleasantries about one another in the build- up, then Gerrard was wearing a snarl come the end.
He eventually cooled to offer context around his first loss in 13 matches since taking charge. His achievement in guiding the club back into European competition after an eight-year absence is remarkable given four two-legged ties had to be negotiated, with the last tie seen out with nine men some 2,300 miles away in Russia on Thursday night.
‘I’m pleased with where we are right now, we’ve done ever so well,’ Gerrard said. ‘Thursday was a big moment, the first thing we have achieved as a team.
‘This is a setback, but I can only praise the players. Last season they were blown away by Celtic, annihilated. This was an improvement.’ Gerrard inherited a fractured club and broken dressing-room but has united and re-energised both in the space of three months. He looks and sounds like a manager, just like Rodgers, only minus the fluff.
Rodgers, meanwhile, has been rowing with the Celtic hierarchy over a lack of summer spending and blamed that for their Champions League exit to AEK Athens. Rangers may be ecstatic to be playing European football on a Thursday night this season. Celtic are not.
Rodgers was unbeaten in 11 Old Firm clashes with an aggregate score of 30-6. But the man who was once Gerrard’s manager when they were at Liverpool needed this victory.
Rodgers’ team might have been well ahead by half-time, but somehow, Gerrard’s side were still level, a combination of good fortune and bad finishing their salvation.
With every attack, the home crowd twisted the volume dial clockwise and, come half-time, those in blue were relying on instinct to repel the surge, for any notion of communication was redundant amid the frenzied sound. It was a shame, though, that so few Rangers supporters were inside Celtic Park. Gerrard, in a roundabout way, is the cause.
His arrival triggered record season-ticket sales and all away allocations at Ibrox have been slashed. Celtic responded by cutting the 7,000 tickets they usually afford their rivals to just 800.
There were worrying scenes outside the stadium before kick- off when five Celtic fans were injured and one hospitalised after a crush
which was described as ‘ absolutely chaotic’. Celtic apologised for the incident — thought to be caused by a stadium gate being closed — and Police Scotland have promised a review.
After full-time, Celtic captain Scott Brown enjoyed goading the Rangers fans by dancing in front of them. ‘We showed them who was boss. We dictated the game,’ he said.
Brown, of course, was right. Rangers were lucky that the one man who had done most to keep them in the contest — goalkeeper Allan McGregor — was still on the pitch beyond the 25th minute, when he kicked out at Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer after they tangled from a free-kick.
McGregor should not have been there to claw clear from Ntcham’s free-kick on 28 minutes, likewise when he kept out Odsonne Edouard’s header just before the break. Those saves bookended James Forrest and Mikael Lustig efforts which tested the woodwork. Ntcham’s low blast early in the second half was then diverted on to the crossbar by McGregor but he was helpless when the former Manchester City midfielder slotted in from Forrest’s inviting roll.
Rangers did rally, but a draw would have been unjust. Gerrard the manager, then, has finally lost a match. It will be the first and last time he will be forgiven for doing so in this fixture. CELTIC (4-2-3-1): Gordon 6; Lustig 6.5, Boyata 7, Ajer 7, Tierney 7.5; NTCHAM 8, Brown 7; Forrest 7.5 (Sinclair, 90), Rogic 7 (Christie, 77, 6), McGregor 6.5; Edouard 6 (Griffiths, 66, 6.5). Subs not used: Benkovic, Gamboa, Bain, Eboue Scorer: Ntcham 61. Booked: Brown, Edouard Manager: Brendan Rodgers 7 RANGERS (4-2-3-1): McGregor 7.5; Tavernier 6, Katic 6, Goldson 7, Barisic 6; Jack 6.5 (Middleton, 81) Ejaria 6; Kent 6 (Candeias, 87) Arfield 5, Lafferty 5; Morelos 5. Subs not used: Foderingham, Flanagan, Halliday, McCrorie, Worrall. Booked: Barisic, Morelos, McGregor, Goldson. Manager: Steven Gerrard 6 Referee: Willie Collum 5. Attendance: 58, 865