Let’s be honest, that wasn’t a surprise!
Celtic’s goalless draw at Rangers was pretty poor of the highest order, but a game such as this, from both sides, was coming given the outside noise around the two.
In midweek, Celtic missed out on Champions League football after the failure to beat Kairat Almaty over two legs, and then Russell Martin’s Rangers followed suit by getting walloped by Club Brugge.
On top of that, Celtic’s summer recruitment has been a mess, and Rangers will probably be looking for a new manager sooner rather than later.
Ally McCoist’s reaction to Rangers 0-0 Celtic
Ally McCoist has been part of a fair share of Glasgow derby games, as a player, manager, and now a supporter.
The former striker told talkSPORT that the game was simply ‘terrible’ and he ‘couldn’t believe’ what he was watching.
But McCoist claimed that both sides, especially during the second half, played like they were ‘scared’ to lose the match.
“Oh, it was terrible,” said McCoist. “It was a terrible game of football. It really was. I thought the first half, Rangers were slightly better. The best of a bad pair.
“Then, in the second half, oh dear me, I had a couple of mates over from Canada, they couldn’t believe what they were watching – it was terrible.
“The second half just looked as though both of them were scared to lose. The goalkeepers never had a save to make.
“I was obviously looking at it from a Rangers point of view, and they were poor enough. But I don’t think Celtic had a shot at goal. I think they had one with Hatate late on. Schmeichel didn’t have any saves either.
“I just thought that the quality and the standard of the game was really poor. Really poor.”
What the stats say
The only positive Celtic can take out of all of this is the fact that they are top of the Premiership table, still unbeaten and yet to concede a goal this term.
Other than that, the team need to get their act together in the coming months, especially with Europa League football on the horizon.
This is how some of the stats read out for one of the worst Glasgow derby matches in recent history.
- Possession: Rangers 41.3%-58.7% Celtic
- Shots: Rangers 4-5 Celtic
- Shots on target: Rangers 0-2 Celtic
- Touches inside the box: Rangers 11-11 Celtic
- Fouls committed: Rangers 17-17 Celtic
- Forward passes: Rangers 128-160 Celtic
- Total long balls: Rangers 48-56 Celtic
- Successful final third passes: Rangers 35-45 Celtic
- Crosses: Rangers 21-11 Celtic
- Tackles: Rangers 20-22 Celtic
- Clearances: Rangers 19-60 Celtic
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
