Celtic 2, The Rangers 1, By Numbers
The Scottish League Cup Final is one the “free to air” data providers barely cover.
So, here are the team numbers behind Celtic’s triumph on Sunday against The Rangers.
Passing & Possession
Celtic dominated possession more in the first half and it was impactful. At half time the possession was stacked 63%/37% in Celtic’s favour and this seemed to have a material impact.
Rookie Micky Beale elected to start with midfielders John Lundstram and Malik Tillman in a match up to Celtic’s three with Glenn Kamara. Unfortunately for the talkative one, neither were near 100% fit and Celtic’s dominant possession further tired less than full functioning limbs.
Celtic’s first goal was aided by failure to track Celtic midfield runners in the 44th minute. Like Celtic in Europe, the Ibrox club are not used to having only 37% of the ball and pressing for the majority of time. It’s tiring!
That may have impacted the passage that led to Celtic’s opener.
24% of Celtic’s passes were “pack” passes that took at least one opponent out the game. This is a very high number and reflects the inability of their front three to press the Celtic back line effectively. Carl Starfelt alone completed 24 pack passes.
The overall passing effectiveness reflects The Rangers propensity to hit long diagonals onto Greg Taylor as opposed to Celtic’s usual passing approach.
Goal Threat
Single game xG is always problematic and important context is needed around both teams’ numbers.
Firstly, the Blues.
In the 13th minute John Lundstram’s shot was blocked by Cameron Carter-Vickers but the cut back from Malik Tillman had come from a ball that was clearly out of play.
Similarly, in the 79th minute, a Carl Starfelt miscalculation allowed an Antonio Colak shot to be blocked again by Cameron Carter-Vickers. However, Colak had controlled the ball with his arm which surely would have contravened Law 12 – “It is an offence if a player:
scores in the opponents' goal:
directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper
immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental”
But because VAR was not needed both “attempts” stand to artificially boost the xG numbers.
For Celtic, both goals were taps ins with no goalkeeper or defender present (back post Barisic – lol) and inside the six-yard box – huge xG for both. And then a flurry of Celtic chances occurred very late in the game on the break against a tired and overcommitted defence.
Overall, though, Celtic had dominance in good quality chance creation with only Fashion Sakala’s shot being a “big” chance and even then, he had a very narrow angle to aim at.
Creating
Alfredo Morelos’s goal was their other “big” chance as this was inside the six-yard box and very close to goal.
Celtic had the edge in pack passing efficiency as well as 28-22 possessions within the box.
Defending
The Rangers collectively def3ended appallingly for both Celtic goals with Connor Goldson in particular exacerbating a lack of midfield tracking and covering.
For Celtic, Taylor and Starfelt in particular had really poor moments in the second half, as indeed did Callum McGregor, giving up the ball in dangerous areas especially in that wobbly period from 60 to 80 minutes.
Overall, Joe Hart did not have to make a save whilst Allan McGregor made four.
Celtic made more clearances but much of that is down to game state – one team chasing, the other defending a 2-0 lead. Celtic also made a (player led) decision to go more direct second half as the pitch cut up and passing out from the back became trickier.
Crime Count
There were plenty of fouls as expected and a flurry of cards near the end as the trailing side looked like losing their discipline.
Overall, Nick Walsh and team should be commended for a decent display and by Scottish standards, probably near exceptional. There were no VAR controversy’s and thankfully no opportunities for questionable calls.
It was a less than perfect display from Celtic but nevertheless a well deserved win.