Derby Draw Frustration - Not All Bad
Despite emotion and frustration on the day, by the fundamentals, Celtic should have won this game.
Celtic
KPI The Rangers
61%
Possession
39%
418
Completed Passes
214
82%
Pass Completion %
69%
77%
Possession Effectiveness
62%
1.770
xG
0.560
6
Shots On Target
3
15
Total Shots 9
9
Shots In Box
6
1.802 xA
0.886
3
Big Chances 2 242 Total Team Impect
136
28
Possessions In Box 15 2 Defensive Key Saves
4
4
Defensive Key Errors 0 54 Challenges Won
45
48 Possessions Won
42
The Rangers tactics of a high press and early long balls, fighting for second balls brought some successes. The away teams’ chances came from Celtic errors whist the Light Blue reshuffled rear-guard was admirably error free. Celtic’s passing was very poor. What does “very poor” mean? 82% pass completion is 7% below average. Those are the margins. Less than 10% turns “complete control” into “disjointed" and a game broken of structure. The two full backs in particular could not connect with teammates. Lustig gave away 20 open field passes. Before the Dundee game he averaged 6.9 incomplete passes per game. He has given away 38 in the last two matches. He usually hits 90% pass completion – 64% here. That is almost comically bad. Tierney was not much better. He gave away 12 open play passes, completing only 29. He averages 82% pass completion and hit 71% in this game. Huge difference. And Gordon averages 88% open play pass completion and managed 73% here. Brown was effectively tracked – he averages 78 passes per 90m and managed 47 here. Therefore Celtic did not have an initial platform to play from. Domestically, the only games Celtic have completed less forward passes that take out opponents, they drew with Kilmarnock and Hibernian at home. No surprise a similar result here. Poor “pack” rates are due to good pressure, yes, but also poor passing and poor movement. Celtic had 6 shots on target, 9 inside the box and 1.770 xG. Low for this season, but not the lowest. In terms of chances created, Celtic were right on average domestically at 1.802. All usually enough to win a game. Celtic completed 0 out of 11 crossing attempts. Such numbers when repeated saw draws against Motherwell and Kilmarnock, defeat to Hearts, and a 2-0 win over Partick. The Gers went very direct, completing only 214 passes, the 6th most Celtic have faced domestically. 69% pass completion is 1% below the opposition average. 2 shots on target is 1 more than average. xG of 0.560 and xA of 0.886 are above average for Scottish opposition. They maximised their chance creation opportunities. But couldn’t take their chances either. Finally Bhoy of the Match was Ajer. He was successful with 17 challenges and interceptions, losing 4. He completed 97% passing and had second highest pass Impect at 29. He won possession back 11 times, only giving it up twice. The Light Blues performance was similar to other Scottish sides that have thwarted Celtic this season. The question is why is this happening more often than last season? My forthcoming midterm report(s) will consider this.