I had written earlier today that not one player got pass marks after Celtic’s 3-0 loss to Rangers yesterday afternoon.
In hindsight, that was probably premature and speaking from emotion rather than looking at the game rationally.
Look, every player didn’t play to their usual high standards. That is obvious, but there is one that gets pass marks from me.
Carl Starfelt.
I thought the big Swede had a good game up against the pace of Fashion Sakala. He was also very commanding and did his best to keep Yuki Kobayashi right when it was clear the Japanese defender was struggling very early on in the game.
Starfelt made six clearances and negated the runs of Sakala on more than one occasion when it looked like Rangers striker was set to go clean through on goal.
He also made two blocks and two interceptions and had a passing accuracy of 93.6%. [Whoscored]
And I know most people will look at Rangers’ third goal and point the finger at the big defender for his part in losing possession to Sakala. But I would argue that the fault for that goal lay mainly at Celtic captain, Callum McGregor.
The ever-reliable midfielder seemed to let the ball roll to Starfelt which caught the defender unawares and that allowed the Rangers striker to nick in and force the error.
Yesterday was a game that many Celtic fans will be keen to forget but it is also important to keep a sense of perspective about the result. The league is already over and a possible treble is on its way to Paradise. Yesterday will hurt. There is no doubt about that, but what this Celtic team have proven over the last two seasons is that defeats don’t harm us, they make us stronger
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