Celtic’s current squad is nowhere near the levels of some of their previous sides, but Martin O’Neill has managed to instil a mentality that Rangers couldn’t cope with.
The Hoops beat Rangers on penalties to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup at Hampden Park before tensions spilled over at full-time.
O’Neill’s side didn’t have a shot on target across 120 minutes, but that didn’t matter as this crop of players finally seemed to understand how important it was to beat Rangers.
You can pick any Celtic player from history to take a penalty to win a game…
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Celtic have finally learned how to win ugly
It wasn’t just any kind of win at Ibrox, it was a really ugly win that will live long in the memory.
Tactically, O’Neill nullified the threat of Youssef Chermiti up top, but the players themselves were in the heads of the Rangers fans and players from minute one.
Julian Araujo trolled supporters when walking down the tunnel and goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo also taunted the home fans during the shootout.
You can prepare for a game as much as you like, but when a manager has instilled a siege mentality, Danny Rohl could not prepare his Rangers team for that.
In his post-match interview, O’Neill praised his players for refusing to lose, especially when every metric suggested that the Hoops should have lost the game.
How many points will Celtic end the season with?
Will it be enough to win the league? 😅
He said: “They refused to lose the game. We defended magnificently. Boys throwing their bodies on the line.”
Stats mean very little in a Glasgow derby at the end of the day. What matters is who wants it more and the heart and spirit of the Hoops proved it was always only going to be them.
The next step is to produce this kind of mentality in the league, and against St Mirren in the semi-final.
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