‘Rangers took Celtic out of comfort zone’ – Petrov
Rangers’ upturn in fortunes during the second half of the Old Firm draw with Celtic was down to desire, says former Parkhead midfielder Stilian Petrov.
The Bulgarian saw an aggressive switch in attitude from Rangers who “wanted it more” against their Old Firm rivals and utilised Fashion Sakala to a tee, he said. The Zambian fired a low drive past Joe Hart that squeezed inside the post to level the scores and cancel out Jota’s opener during a fairly even first half.
After the break the visitors enjoyed a significant share of possession and merited Sakala’s equaliser, the Sky Sports studio analyst said. "Rangers in the second half linked-up play and the way they moved and explored the space, they pushed and took Celtic out of their comfort zone, pulled them and turned them over by playing balls in behind and when they had the ball they looked after it and that’s what led to the goal,” said Petrov.
On the second-half differences he added: “Rangers were a little bit more aggressive and got closer to Celtic. They were braver and took risks by leaving players one-on-one but what they did as soon as they got the ball, they looked after the ball and explored the right areas. They used Sakala in the right way. They made two passes and were in behind.
"Rangers were better because they were more aggressive and wanted it more,” Petrov added.
His fellow Sky Sports pundits Kris Boyd and Andy Walker believed Rangers could have taken more from their play in the second 45 where Scott Arfield was denied by Hart and Sakala also hit the post with another chance.
Boyd said: “Look at how the second half panned out, Celtic still tried to play the same thing but Rangers actually got on the ball and tried to make things happen and were very unlucky not to come away with a victory.”
Walker, the broadcaster’s co-commentator during the match, later summarised: “Celtic are still six points clear and I think they’ll be pleased to get out of this with a point because they were not at their best today.”