Cham-pagne moment
NTCHAM SOARS AT PARADISE AS SAME OLD FIRM STORY PLAYS OUT AT GLASGOW DERBY WITH A DIFFERENCE
PLUS ca change. A Frenchman sealing a Celtic victory in a game against Rangers has been a recurring narrative around these parts for some time.
The days leading up to this game were dominated by the Moussa Dembele will he-won’t-he saga, but the striker’s absence left no significant void for Celtic to fill yesterday.
And as the dust settled on this much-talked-about game between Brendan Rodgers and the new-look Rangers under Steven Gerrard’s stewardship, it was difficult to escape the observation that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
A glance at the scoreline from yesterday’s 1-0 win over Rangers does not reveal all that is to be seen.
If this was a narrow win on paper, it was far more comprehensive in action.
Four times Celtic hit the woodwork – twice in each half – before Olivier Ntcham broke Rangers’ resistance with a strike that was the culmination of a swift, aggressive counter attack just after the hour mark.
Psychologically now it remains to be seen just what effect the result has on both teams.
For Celtic, this was a welcome balm to the wounds of the last few weeks. An ugly transfer window ended ignominiously with the sale of Dembele while the much coveted high-profile signings that Brendan Rodgers craved were unforthcoming.
There have been internal wranglings and discord but with the window closed now, the next few months offer Celtic an opportunity to do some of their talking on the park.
For the Ibrox side there was a sobering sense of the work that is still to be done. If this meeting underlined anything it is that Celtic remain a significant distance ahead of their Ibrox rivals.
Goalscorer Ntcham could have been away to Porto this summer had his representatives had their way but on the evidence provided yesterday, there is a reason why Celtic do not wish to part company with the Frenchman just yet.
Ntcham dominated the central pastures but more than that he was able to apply a layer of grace to the game. He was denied a goal just after the restart when Rangers keeper Allan McGregor parried his rasping effort on to the crossbar but there was never going to be any doubt when James Forrest laid it on a plate for
‘‘ Celtic remain a significant distance ahead of their rivals
him to score the opener shortly after.
Much had been said in the build-up to the game about the difference in Rangers since the influence of Steven Gerrard.
But while it was a very different looking Rangers team to the one that has turned up at Celtic Park over the past two seasons, for the bulk of the encounter there was a familiar hue to proceedings as the Parkhead side firmly held court over their rivals.
The Ibrox side were far more physical in their approach with a philosophy that seemed to extend to rolling up their sleeves and stopping Celtic play by whatever means necessary. They crossed the line with that particular reasoning when McGregor aimed an off-the-ball kick at Kristoffer Ajer and was lucky to see out the 90 minutes.
It ought to have seen him removed from the fray, something that Gerrard conceded
himself in the aftermath of the game.
Having parried a free-kick from the excellent Callum McGregor, the Rangers keeper aimed his boot at Ajer as the Celtic defender closed in on goal. It went unnoticed by the officials but will surely invite retrospective action.
McGregor remained to produce a couple of excellent stops to keep Celtic at bay
but the longer the game went on the more it seemed inevitable that a goal would come.
After Forrest and Mikael Lustig had hit the woodwork in the space of two minutes – the former with a dipping half volley from the edge of the box which clattered off the crossbar and the latter with a header – Odsonne Edouard then had a header with which he looked
destined to score.
Kieran Tierney, playing as a wing-back as Celtic effectively went with a 3-5-2 formation repeatedly had the beating of James Tavernier down the flank. The Scotland internationalist thought he had had a hand in the creation of the opening goal when he fed McGregor and the midfielder’s perfectly weighted cross to the back
post was met by the head of Edouard.
But the French striker nodded almost directly into the arms of McGregor as Rangers survived what was an opening 45 minutes of being heavily under the cosh.
When the goal came it was precise and fluent.
Gerrard was furious that what he perceived as a foul on Ryan Jack was allowed to
go unpenalized by Rogic it looked like a 50-50 challenge. In any case, Rogic had ample work to do to get the ball up to the other end of the park.
With Forrest and Edourad keeping pace either side of the Rogic who hared his way forward, the Australian slipped the ball into the path of Edouard who then put Forrest through.
His ball across goal found the advancing Ntcham who calmly slotted into the net to give Celtic the goal their possession had threatened.
The goal, just after the hour mark, came after Rangers had tried to break out of their defensive comfort zone. As such, Celtic were able to pick them off by exploiting the space that had been difficult to find in a crowded opening 45 minutes.