The big story coming out of yesterday’s Celtic draw at home to Livingston was the penalty miss from Giorgos Giakoumakis and the fact that Josip Juranovic didn’t take it.
That was what the manager was asked about after the match and what supporters were talking about on social media. However, that’s a simplistic reason for the dropped Scottish Premiership points.
The truth is that Celtic barely tested goalkeeper Max Stryjek all afternoon and that was down to the Bhoys’ lack of creativity. The big issue was that the team allowed themselves to be pushed out wide too easily, as shown by the pass map from WhoScored below.
Each orange dot shows the location of a Celtic pass. The band of grey surrounding the opposition D and 18 yard line demonstrates that Celtic rarely had any penetration in the central areas and allowed themselves to be shunted into flanks where it’s harder to find the killer pass.
The side-to-side passing and lack of verticality was a problem throughout the 90 minutes and even if the match had been played for another half an hour, you wouldn’t have bet big money on a Celtic goal. We simply weren’t taking enough risks, making it far too easy for Livingston.
Celtic had 40 crosses in total, with only Anthony Ralston really looking like producing some that could trouble the Livingston defence. As you can see in the image, Celtic got to the byline on just a handful of occasions. With just two shots on target, attackers such as Giakoumakis were left isolated in the Livingston area.
Celtic needed ambitious midfielders running vertically into the box, looking for second balls or offering a route for cutbacks. That was also missing for much of the match, crowded out by a low Livingston block that would have frustrated most sides. The absence of Tom Rogic contributed too, given he is one of the only players in our side who can pickpocket opponents and deliver a final ball on the deck.
Yet, Ange needs to find a solution to counter these tactics because David Martindale isn’t going to be the only manager to turn up at Celtic Park this season with backs to the wall defending in mind. We need to create a better quality of chances from open play against these stodgy sides or more dropped points this term are inevitable.
This should be less of an issue against Ferencvaros on Thursday, given Ange is expecting a more open game. But Dundee at Dens Park next Sunday lunchtime will likely be a big test of Celtic’s ability to break down a team with defensive priorities.
In other news, Odsonne Edouard is loving Tom Rogic’s latest Celtic Instagram post.
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