Parkhead winner is my career highlight so far, claims Katic
NIKOLA KATIC last night hailed the goal which earned Rangers their first Parkhead win in nine years as the best moment of his career so far. The Croatian recovered from the concession of a first-half penalty to Celtic — saved by goalkeeper Allan McGregor — to head the winner in the 56th minute. After a succession of Parkhead defeats, some of the embarrassing variety, the central defender described the rare and precious victory which placed the title race in Rangers’ hands as ‘amazing’. A persistent threat at set-pieces, Katic claimed his third — and most important — goal of the season in a game where the Ibrox side once again outplayed the passive hosts. ‘The goal was probably the best moment of my career until now,’ he said. ‘It’s something we practise so much, we do it every day and I was so happy to get the reward because we work so hard. ‘To come here and win in this place and make the gap between the sides small was just amazing. I am very proud of my team-mates and so happy for the fans. ‘I think we showed in the cup final we can handle Celtic. We had our game plan, we listened to the manager and did everything he wanted. We showed no fear. It’s a tough place to go and play but we did it.’ Admitting Rangers took huge confidence — and motivation — from outplaying Celtic in a Betfred Cup final defeat at Hampden earlier in the month, the 23-year-old added: ‘Anyone who watched the final saw a very good Rangers performance and could see we are a good team. ‘We were a bit unlucky but we had to stick to the plan and play out the game. We went out and showed it again today.’ Penalised by referee Kevin Clancy for pulling the jersey of Christopher Jullien with the game goalless in the first half, Katic breathed a huge sigh of relief when McGregor saved Ryan Christie’s spot-kick. Asked if he was worried, Katic admitted: ‘Almost. It was the referee’s decision and maybe yes, maybe no, but Allan McGregor saved me and the team. ‘It was done and I can’t complain about it. Well, I did, but it’s done and it doesn’t matter. ‘We are in a good position but it’s still winter. It’s not even close to the end. We still have to take it game by game, session by session, keep pushing and giving everything to win each game.’ Despite scoring the winner, Katic was happy to concede man of the match honours to Croatian countryman Borna Barisic, the left-back keeping James Forrest deathly quiet while also teeing up Rangers’ opener for Ryan Kent and the big centre-back’s winner. ‘He is an amazing player and he deserved to be man of the match,’ said Katic. ‘He’s Croatian No 1 and a big star for the future. ‘We saw last summer, the Croatia team is maybe in the top three in the world, maybe top five, with players at Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool. ‘It’s really hard to get there but I believe in myself and that’s one of my dreams — to pull on my country’s shirt one day. I need to work hard and wait for my chance. The key is to be good for Rangers first.’ The only downside for the Ibrox side from a memorable win was a seventh red card in Scottish football for Alfredo Morelos after the Colombian dived in stoppage time in a bid to win a penalty. His second red card of the season, Morelos once again drew a blank in the Old Firm fixture, but earned praise for his all-round performance from Katic and manager Steven Gerrard. ‘The red card was the referee’s decision, so I can’t talk about that,’ said Katic. ‘But Alfredo is one of the best players in the league — maybe the best. ‘He showed how important he is in the last game against Kilmarnock. ‘It happened but he gives a lot to the team and I was really proud of him today.’