Following a dramatic 3-3 draw at Ibrox last Sunday, Celtic emerged unscathed in their Scottish Premiership title bid.
The visitors’ Daizen Maeda, Matt O’Riley, and Adam Idah scored, giving the Bhoys a three-point lead. However, Rabbi Matondo scored in stoppage time after avoiding Hyunjun Yang.
Despite not winning, Brendan Rodgers praised his team for securing an important point in challenging circumstances. He commented, “We’re disappointed not to win, but to leave here with it all in our hands is what we wanted—for that, I’m really proud.”
Of course, Celtic kept their destiny intact, knowing that six wins in our last league games would be enough to secure a third consecutive league title despite a turbulent season at Parkhead.
With a clean bill of health regarding injuries, the Hoops have no excuses as they battle it out with Rangers for Scotland’s top trophy, which also comes with the financial significance of automatic admission into the Champions League group stages.
Chris Sutton feels James Forrest may have been deployed against Rangers.
In the aftermath of our Glasgow Derby draw, many supporters and analysts cited Yang’s sloppy defending as a factor in Matondo’s eventual equaliser.
Despite this, the South Korean international should not be punished for a single lapse in focus, especially given his inexperience in high-pressure Glasgow Derby encounters.
In his column for The Daily Record, former Celtic icon Chris Sutton has claimed that veteran winger James Forrest may have been a wiser choice to help see out the latter stages of our contest at Ibrox.
He stated: “Celtic can’t afford a repeat of the naivety shown for the injury time equaliser. Listen, it was a sensational strike from Rabbi Matondo. But does Yang not watch Scottish football on the television?
“The winger did exactly the same thing against Hibs last week, yet Yang showed him inside to his stronger foot. It was an incredible hit, but it was asking for trouble. It was the same on the other side. Nicolas Kuhn kept cutting inside, but he was up against a right-footed left back in Dujon Sterling.
“The one time he got down the outside, his cross resulted in the penalty. These are things they should have been aware of beforehand. You could nip pick with that second period, and maybe James Forrest could have been a better option than Yang.
“But the other changes Rodgers made had a positive impact with Adam Idah and Paulo Bernardo doing well when they came on.”
Truthfully, it is hard to know if Forrest would’ve defended with more vigour than Yang for Matondo’s goal, though his experience over the years may have came in handy on Glasgow’s southside.
Nevertheless, we move on, and St Mirren will present another stiff test of our title-winning credentials on Saturday afternoon at Paradise.
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