Celtic captain Callum McGregor has praised the character of the Hoops side after coming away with a 2-2 draw at Ibrox on Monday afternoon.
The Bhoys maintained their nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership, picking up a point in the second Glasgow Derby fixture of the season.
The game started so well for Ange Postecoglou’s side, who took an early lead through winger Daizen Maeda within the first six minutes.
However, early in the second half, the Hoops saw that advantage slip, and it was Rangers who took the lead, flipping the game on its head.
As Celtic’s points deficit at the top looked to be heading for six points, up stepped Kyogo Furuhashi who produced a big goal to level up the game at 2-2.
It was certainly a massive goal from the Japanese striker and helped the Bhoys keep their major advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Speaking in the aftermath of the result at Ibrox, Celtic skipper Callum McGregor praised the team’s character to come back at earnt a draw, despite the early disappointment of the second half.
The Scotland international admitted that Postecoglou’s side weren’t ‘quite at the races’ in terms of overall performance. But McGregor hailed the teams never say die attitude, which has aided the Hoops all season.
He said [The Scotsman]: “I think in the end it was good character again from the group to keep going even though things were against us.
“In terms of performance levels we weren’t quite at the races, but it’s important when things are going against you, you show mental strength. We get the one chance, and Kyogo [Furuhashi] does really well to finish, so it was positive in the end considering the performance.
“We started really well, and our solutions in the game were good, our touch, passing tempo, all the things we talk about.
“Then I think we just got carried away a little bit, stopped doing the things that were getting us success, and there was a little moment where they got a press up and that changes the momentum of the game.
“The crowd got involved, and things started to spiral from there, but it’s important when that happens to regain your composure and go again. We didn’t quite do that, probably for the rest of the game.
“Rangers started the second half well and got the two goals. But I’ll go back to it, it was good character at the end to make sure we came away with a result.
“We wanted a result to come away with. Ideally, we wanted to win, but in football, it is important when you aren’t playing well you don’t lose.
“I think that’s always vital, so credit to the lads as well. Everybody knows what the league table says, and they can come to their own conclusions about what is a must-win [for Rangers] and what’s not.
“It keeps us where we were, in a good spot in the league, and we will just continue to work hard. The season is 38 games long, so we’ll just keep going until someone tells us to stop.”
Celtic’s ‘never stop’ mantra continues to shine through.
After such a disappointing start to the second half, creating very few chances, it could have been easy for Ange Postecoglou’s side to almost accept their fate.
However, that isn’t what this Celtic team does, and you always expect them to create one more huge opportunity to score.
That is precisely what happened, and Kyogo Furuhashi was on hand to secure a point at Ibrox for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
It could prove to be a massive moment in the 2022/23 campaign as Celtic maintain their healthy advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
It all comes back to Postecoglou’s ‘never stop’ mantra, and the Bhoys continue to earn their rewards by pushing until the very end of every game.
Although we are happy to come away with a result after a somewhat disappointing performance, the Celtic boss and his players will be hoping to improve upon that for the upcoming league and cup fixtures.
But at the same time, on Monday, the Bhoys really showcased what champions are made of, and even when we play poorly, our closest challengers struggle to stop us.
In other news, Celtic must ask questions of the SFA after more VAR nonsense; what Michael Nicholson previously said.
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