Patient Celtic Leave Gerrard With Crosses To Bear

Whilst Gerrard set up to avoid the thrashings Warburton, Murty and Caixinha had endured, Celtic were happy to play the long, patient game. When Gerrard changed tack in the second half, Celtic found it easier to get at the Blues defence. It’s a conundrum all right. The contrast between the two halves was stark in some respects.

First Half - Military 4-4-2

In the first period, The Rangers set up in a medium block of 4-4-2. With a narrow midfield in defence, Lafferty doubling up on Forrest when required and Kent tracking back on Tierney. Morelos and Lafferty were furthest forward and the strategy was to play early and direct balls and then fight from there. The Rangers forwards conceded 10 free kicks between them. It was not a sophisticated strategy and involved much possession surrendering. Celtic had 76% possession by half time and the visitors completed only 49 passes in the period – think Partick Thistle on a bad day. Only 36 passes were from open play, a number surpassed by Ajer, Boyata and Ntcham. The midfield rarely got close enough to the second balls from the aerial battles involving the forwards. The Blues could not establish meaningful territory in the Celtic half. Their only shot came from a rare high press when Rogic and Brown played themselves into trouble outside their area resulting in a Jack snap shot over. It would be 40 minutes before The Rangers had their next effort at goal. Their attack was utterly bereft with 0 chances created and 0 possessions in the opposition box. Only 3 forward passes successfully took out any Celtic players. Whilst surrendering possession, the visitors kept their shape well, resulting in Celtic having to pass around and in front. It took Celtic 25 minutes to have an effort at goal as the determined visitors kept the Celtic attack at bay. Once Celtic got over the initial defensive effort, 9 attempts followed in the last 20 minutes of the half. A series of free kicks and corners allowed Celtic to create 6 of the 9 chances. None were high probability chances with the most promising being a header from Edouard straight at McGregor. But at half time it was 0-0 and Gerrard may have reflected on a job well done. The comparative key metrics across the two halves:

* Possession is a %

Second Half - Ok, We're Bored Defending

Celtic had already played two matches that week, at home, against opposition determined to dig in and frustrate. Those matches had been similar to this first half with Celtic playing in a calm and patient manner and not forcing the play. Nevertheless, chances did come and so Celtic remained patient. In the second period The Rangers probably realised they could not be chasing the ball for another 45 minutes. Their strategy seemed to be waiting for Celtic to score. To be fair, Gerrard changed it up to be more proactive. The long, direct balls became less frequent as they attempted to get the full backs Tavernier and Barisic into the wide areas for crosses. The change in tack to get the full backs further forward in support, and to adopt a more possession-based game meant Celtic could potentially hit on the break. From the visitors first flurry of goal mouth bothering of the match on the 61^st minute, Celtic did indeed break. A series of crosses were played across the Celtic box until Jack challenged Rogic for a clearance. When Jack fell to the floor, the fast break was on as the ball was taken up the pitch by Rogic. Passes to Edouard, then Forrest before Ntcham arrived late, left by Ejaria, to sweep home. The equaliser-seeking barrage never quite materialised with The Rangers continuing to strive for overloads on the flanks to get crosses into Morelos and Lafferty. In the first half, they attempted 3 crosses, all unsuccessful. In the second 16 were attempted, 2 successful for Katic and Lafferty to have distracted efforts at goal. The Rangers best chance came in the 88^th minute once Candeias came on. He reprised his previously productive relationship with Tavernier to provide the English wing back with a cross shot that went well wide. Despite dominating possession in the second half, and creating 4 chances, The Rangers were mainly kept at arm’s length thanks to the ability of Ajer, Boyata and Lustig to deal with high balls into the box. 15 clearances and interceptions were actioned by the tall trio. The lack of accuracy in the final third will concern Gerrard. In the first half they surrendered the ball 10 times in the final third for 0 corners and 1 shot. In the second, The Rangers gave up possession in the final third 21 times for a reward of 4 shots and 4 corners. For Celtic, they only gave away possession in the final third 10 times in the second half whilst farming 7 shots and 8 corners. This quality differential in the final third remains the largest gap between the teams. Indeed, the conundrum for The Rangers is wrote large in the data. Celtic managed to create even better chances in the second half with more space to operate. The more open game allowed their more talented midfield to create much better-quality chances from considerably less possession. In Warburton’s first game against Celtic in the SPFL he had attempted to go toe-to-toe with the Champions and ended up with an embarrassing 5-1. Gerrard was determined not to get that yet his team was set up waiting to concede, hoping to survive. When they did open up, Celtic were happy they could create even more against an open opponent. It will be a difficult circle to square for the rookie manager.