That was pretty forgettable from Celtic and simply unacceptable.
For the second Glasgow derby running, Celtic suffered defeat to Rangers, this time on home soil and their first defeat of the Premiership campaign in front of their own fans.
Rangers went 2-0 ahead and were deservedly ahead at the break, it could and probably should have been worse.
Just like the Ibrox horror show after the New Year, Celtic couldn’t cope with the opposition’s press and aggression.
It needs to be remembered that this Rangers side were in Europa League action on Thursday night and they were also taken to extra-time by Fenerbahce.
Yet, it never felt like it and Celtic were poor beyond comprehension all over the pitch.
Nicolas Kuhn slammed as Celtic lose to Rangers
It wasn’t so long ago that Nicolas Kuhn was a Player of the Year contender, but that has now slipped away from him.
Yes, Maeda’s form has played a big part in that because he is now the standout player in Scotland.
But Kuhn himself has looked off it since the turn of the year and Neil Lennon, Kris Boyd and Chris Sutton were critical of him against Rangers, as they told Sky Sports Football (16/03/25 at 1:30 pm).
The Sky Sports trio felt he was ‘really poor’ and ‘sloppy’, with Rodgers then subbing off Kuhn at the break for Adam Idah.
“This is an interesting change because, I think what he will want to do, Brendan is miss the press out and go a bit longer,” said Lennon. “That’s why Idah is coming on, for the physicality”.
Boyd responded: “You mentioned that Nicolas Kuhn was due a big performance. He was really poor that first half.”
Lennon agreed: “He was poor, yeah. Sloppy. A lack of belief. Speed. To be fair to Yilmaz, he played him really well. It’s not just Nicolas Kuhn, the whole team was lethargic for the first 20 minutes and Rangers took the game to Celtic and they weren’t at it.”
Sutton then stated briefly: “Nicolas Kuhn didn’t perform in that first half. He was miles off it.”
Kuhn’s stats for Celtic against Rangers
Kuhn now shouldn’t be guaranteed a starting spot and that’s crazy to say given how he was performing during the first half of the campaign.
Yes, Celtic are going to win the title, but performances like this simply shouldn’t be rewarded with another start.
In a game to forget for the German, Kuhn was rated 6.11 by WhoScored for his performance against Rangers.
| Shots | Key Passes | Passes | PA% | Dribbles | Unsuccessful touches | Touches | Rating |
| 0 | 2 | 17 | 70.6 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 6.11 |
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