Celtic scraping over the finish with grit
CELTIC inched closer to the Premiership title as they saw off late Rangers pressure to secure the draw that maintains their six-point lead at the top of the table.
In a match that Rangers had to win, Celtic hit the front through Jota after a scrappy start to the game.
That settled Ange Postecoglou’s men down, but they were almost left to rue missed opportunities to kill the match when Rangers hit back through Fashion Sakala.
A combination of solid defending, great goalkeeping and a little bit of good fortune saw them do what they had to though, and that was simply to avoid defeat.
Here are three burning issues from an afternoon when Celtic all but confirmed themselves as Scottish Premiership champions...
Celtic might not have burst over the line, but they are surely over it
Postecoglou spoke in the run-up to this game about his desire for Celtic to burst through the line rather than limp over it, but the home supporters were left staggering out of Celtic Park after a nerve-shredding 90 minutes against Rangers.
The main thing though was that Celtic did get over the line, no matter how they did it, and in the case of this match that meant avoiding defeat at any cost. Now a win against Hearts next week will give them the trophy.
They would be disappointed to have ceded the lead Jota gave them in the fashion they did, to Sakala, and their second-half performance was poor. But while they are technically not over the line in terms of clinching the title, their six-point lead and vastly superior goal difference remains intact.
Rangers knew they had to win this game to have any hope of clawing that back over the course of the final three games, and they had their chance to do so when Sakala hit the post late on when clean through.
Hearts in mouths gave way to songs in throats by the final whistle then, and Celtic know that this is another step towards a title that is now theirs in all but name.
Maeda needs to add edge
Daizen Maeda brings so much to this Celtic side, and his boundless energy and work-rate has made him not only such a valuable asset in Postecoglou’s system, but has endeared him to the supporters.
He has also scored some valuable goals, but there is little doubt that he needs to add a more clinical edge to his game.
The nervy end to the game was partly due to Rangers’ desperation to get the win they so sorely needed, but it was also partly of Celtic’s own making, squandering numerous chances to double their lead and kill the match stone dead.
Maeda was the chief sinner, pulling out of a header in the first half after goalscorer Jota floated a ball to the back post. With Allan McGregor advancing, the forward caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye, and subsequently baulked at putting his head through the ball. It glanced off his forehead and meekly wide as a consequence.
Then, with one of Celtic’s few chances in the second half, the ball broke perfectly into Maeda’s path on the penalty spot. All he had to do was get the ball on target, but he snatched at the opportunity, blazing wildly over the bar.
Rangers therefore retained hope, and eventually got back into a game that they could have been long out of.
Thankfully for Celtic and Maeda, they were not left to rue those missed opportunities too badly, but had Rangers got a second, it may well have been a sleepless night for the Japanese attacker.
Hart shows his class in the end
Joe Hart has been one of the signings of the season for Celtic, with the assurance he has brought to what was a problem position for the club last term perhaps only surpassed by the influence and leadership he has brought both on and off the pitch.
Nobody will need to tell the hugely experienced keeper then that he should have done
better when beaten by Sakala at his near post for the goal that cancelled out Celtic’s lead.
Yes, the strike from the Rangers forward was pure, low and travelling at pace, and the goal certainly would not be classed as a goalkeeping howler. But a keeper of his ability will be disappointed not to have got himself down a little quicker to stop the ball from creeping in.
But rather than allow that moment to affect him, Hart dusted himself down and came up with two huge saves.
First, he got up to deny Sakala when the forward was clean through shortly after he scored, tipping his stinging drive over the bar.
He then came up with a monumental late stop to deny Scott Arfield from close range, just as the Rangers midfielder looked a certainty to tuck away a goal that would have kept the title race alive.
Hart produced a strong right hand though to keep it out, and as a result, not only made up for his earlier error, but made another telling contribution towards what is surely Celtic’s title.