Celtic player ratings vs Rangers: Matt O’Riley dazzles, 3/10 stinks
Celtic have taken a step closer to defending their Scottish Premiership title following a dramatic 2-1 victory over Rangers on Saturday (11 May).
The match burst into life after the half-hour mark with Matt O’Riley breaking the deadlock before an own goal from John Lundstram doubled Celtic’s lead.
Rangers clawed one back via Cyriel Dessers before Philippe Clement’s side were reduced down to 10 men with Lundstram sent off for a reckless challenge.
PLAYER RATINGS
Joe Hart [6]
Celtic’s shot-stopper ultimately had very little to do until the final minutes of the match when his goal was put under siege. Hart could do nothing about Dessers’ close-ranged header in the first half and ended the match with zero saves.
Alistair Johnston [4]
Surrendered far too much space to Fabio Silva in the first half and was extremely lucky that he wasn’t punished by the Rangers forward for his mistake. Much improved in the second half when he was given license to roam forward and join attacks.
Cameron Carter-Vickers [6]
A solid display. Carter-Vickers handled the physical threat of Dessers well and kept his composure with the ball at his feet. Ended the match with a pass accuracy of 93 percent.
Liam Scales [5]
Scales was confident in possession and took every opportunity to drive into midfield with the ball at his feet. However, he still looked prone to errors in defence and was beaten too easily at the back post for Dessers’ goal.
Greg Taylor [4]
Looked uncomfortable defensively in the first half but grew in confidence after Rangers went down to 10-men. Failed to win a single ground duel across the full 90 minutes and lost possession 17 times.
Matt O’Riley [9]
The pulsing heart of Celtic’s midfield. On his 100th start for the club, O’Riley produced a masterclass on the biggest stage of all. He opened the scoring with a superb finish and carried out his defensive duties superbly with six ground duels won. Tarnished his performance slightly with a poorly-taken penalty that could have killed the game.
Callum McGregor [7]
A captain who led by example. McGregor set the tone for his side with a number of crunching tackles and lung-busting runs. However, he controlled his emotions and kept composure with the ball at his feet with a passing accuracy of 94 percent at the final whistle.
Reo Hatate [4]
The weakest link in an otherwise superb Celtic midfield. Struggled to impact the match going forwards and lost the ball in dangerous areas.
James Forrest [7]
All eyes were on Forrest as a surprise inclusion in the starting lineup, and the 32-year-old justified his selection with a brilliant performance. Looked incredibly sharp from the first whistle with his first action of the game almost leading to a goal. Faded in the second half before being replaced by Kuhn.
Daizen Maeda [7]
Not only did Maeda nullify the threat of James Tavernier, but Rangers could not deal with his direct running and relentless press. He forced the own goal with a brilliant low cross in the first half and was unlucky not to add his own name to the scoresheet after being denied by two offside calls.
Kyogo Furuhashi [3]
A rare disappointing and quiet performance from Celtic’s star forward. Celtic dominated possession but were unable to find Kyogo in space. He fumbled perhaps his only clear-cut chance of the match in the first half and his lack of involvement resulted in sloppy touches. Ended the match with only 19 touches.
SUBSTITUTES
Adam Idah [5] – Provided a focal point for Celtic that they lack with Kyogo up front. However, he had plenty of chances to kill the match for Celtic late on and lacked composure.
Nicolas Kuhn [6] – Injected some much-needed energy into the latter stages of the match and almost scored with his first involvement.
Anthony Ralston [] – N/A
Tomoki Iwata [] – N/A
In other news, Adam Idah makes Celtic transfer decision
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