Celtic’s draw with Rangers is, on balance, a fair outcome for the Ibrox Glasgow Derby.
The 0-0 draw was probably one of the worst performances by both Celtic and Rangers in a derby game for a number of years.
The positives for Celtic are that they leave Ibrox with a point and keep their six-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership table intact.
Brendan Rodgers delivered a brutally honest assessment of Celtic’s stalemate at Ibrox and was clearly unhappy at the level of performance from his team.
Russell Martin, on the other hand, had a bizarre take on the result and made three claims that Celtic fans will find absolutely absurd.
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Russell Martin ‘disappointed’ Rangers didn’t beat Celtic
Speaking post-match, Martin says he is disappointed Rangers didn’t beat Celtic and said his side ‘limited’ Rodgers’ team to ‘very little’ as well.
Martin told BBC Radio Scotland, “I’m disappointed we didn’t win because I felt we were good for large parts. But I’m really proud of the players’ level of fight aggression, desire to compete, to defend all stuff that we were questioned on outside and inside the building.
“We questioned each other on in midweek. So that was a big focus today, to really actually fight and show some togetherness and spirit and aggression.
“And it seemed there was so much of that, then we couldn’t quite find the composure at times we needed in the final third to really create and make something happen, and limited them to very little as well.
“So it’s an important clean sheet, an important point with six points off the top of the league, which is frustrating for us, but it gives us something to hunt.”
First off, both teams were poor but quite why Martin is disappointed Rangers didn’t win is very strange indeed.
With no shots on target, Rangers didn’t create enough chances to take the lead, never mind win the game. Celtic had five shots on goal with two on target and dominated much of the game with 58.7% of the possession.
Disappointed not to have won? Martin should be pleased with a point, like Celtic are.
Russell Martin’s verdict on Rangers penalty claim vs Celtic
Martin was then asked about Rangers’ possible penalty shout after Bojan Miovski appeared to have been fouled by Celtic defender, Liam Scales.
Martin continued, “I think my take on it would be, I think it’s probably when someone gets across someone, and there’s contact, it’s probably foul on most areas of the pitch.
“But I understand with the VAR, why they would say it’s not clear and obvious error, but I do think probably somewhere else on the pitch, it probably gets given.
“And then the other goal is just such fine margins, isn’t it? But yeah, we should have made a bit more with the territory we had, especially in the first half, when we really spent a long time in their half, in their final third, and that’s the next step.
“So I’m really proud of the players, and I’m disappointed we didn’t win.”
The ‘penalty’ claim was never a clear shout as the Sky Sports team all agreed that Miovski tried to ‘buy’ the spot kick.
A draw was a fair outcome for both teams as neither deserved to win the game, especially Rangers.
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