Liel Abada Celtic derby heroics leaves Neil McCann fuming on Sportscene; calls out Barisic

By David Walton

February 3, 2022

Liel Abada’s Celtic derby heroics left Neil McCann fuming with Rangers for their defending as he called out Borna Barisic.

Celtic cruised to a 3-0 win over their rivals in what was our most dominant Glasgow derby performance stretching back to 2018. The Hoops were up for it from the get-go, putting Rangers under immediate pressure and making them look like rabbits caught in the headlights.

So much so that the game was over by half-time. A brace from Reo Hatate was added to by an Abada goal right on the stroke of half-time to make it 3-0. The tricky Israeli managed to take advantage of shocking ball-watching from Rangers’ Barisic to assert our dominance on the game.

And it’s something that left pro-Ibrox pundit McCann absolutely raging on Spotscene last night. As he analysed Celtic’s third goal, he said: “Glen Kamara can’t get Tavernier back in [to his right-back position], so his position must adopt as a full-back because he must go there and then Celtic have got no ball. Because he stays inside, the communication between Tavernier and Kamara doesn’t happen.

“But it’s still a brilliant cross [from Hatate], and then we highlight Barisic, and every time I look at this it makes me angrier. I mean that is unbelievable. And it’s that moment of horror for Barisic. We’re talking about an international, an internationalist here for Croatia.

“He has a look at O’Riley and thinks ‘nah, we’ve got that covered. But at no point does he open up his shoulders and look for the wide man. As an international full-back, that’s criminal.”

Rangers falling apart as Celtic leave their woeful defence exposed

Isn’t it funny how such a constant spotlight has been imposed on the Celtic defence this season? It’s almost as if Rangers’ backline has had a perfect season.

Yet the stats would tell you differently. Celtic have now conceded 8 goals fewer than our Glasgow rivals this season. In addition to that, we’ve also kept more clean sheets with not enough credit being given to that Parkhead backline.

Rangers have now conceded 6 goals in their last 2 matches alone. They still can’t get deal with any sort of sustained pressure on their backline, and cross balls continue to cause them all sorts of panic. 2 of our 3 goals last night effectively came from crosses into the penalty area. We created several more chances by throwing balls into the box too.

It’s now become clear what team has the more efficient backline, and it’s the side sitting at the top of the Premiership.

Celtic simply showed Rangers up last night. They harried them, the pressed them, and they ensured that they always worked their defence when we got into the final third. 5-0 or 6-0 wouldn’t have flattered Ange Postecoglou’s men.

And as we look ahead to Sunday’s game against Motherwell, a major opportunity now presents itself for us to extend our lead further.

In other news, Celtic squad will be buzzing after derby triumph but there’s no respite for Ange’s Bhoys