NafisaDaizen Maeda will grab most of the headlines after Celtic’s huge 3-1 victory over Rangers, but Chris Sutton singled out two other players he believes completely lifted the level of Martin O’Neill’s side during Sunday afternoon’s derby clash at Celtic Park.
Arne Engels and Alistair Johnston both played enormous roles in the result as Celtic moved back to within one point of Hearts with only two matches left in the Scottish Premiership title race.
Engels was right at the heart of most of Celtic’s best attacking football once they settled into the game after Rangers’ bright start. The visitors caused real problems in the opening stages whenever they broke quickly through midfield, but the Belgian gradually started taking charge through his movement, athleticism and composure on the ball.
His assist for Yang Hyun-jun’s equaliser was outstanding.
The timing of the run and the quality of the cutback gave Yang a relatively simple finish inside the box, but the entire move only developed because Engels kept driving Celtic forward instead of slowing the tempo down whenever he picked up possession.
He constantly looked to move Rangers backwards.
Every time Celtic started building momentum, Engels was usually involved somewhere in the move. His energy in midfield also helped Celtic recover second balls much more effectively after struggling badly during the opening part of the match.
Johnston’s return has also completely altered Celtic physically across the pitch.
For long spells this season, Celtic looked vulnerable down the right side whenever he was unavailable. Rangers regularly targeted that area in previous derby meetings because Celtic lacked recovery pace and proper defensive support for the winger playing ahead of the full-back.
Sunday felt very different.
Johnston still picked up a yellow card after a late tackle on Mikey Moore, but after the early exchanges he dealt with the Rangers winger much better and constantly offered Celtic width going forward whenever they attacked.
His overlapping runs repeatedly stretched Rangers during the first half and also created extra space for Luke McCowan drifting inside before Yang eventually switched over towards the right after the interval.
Sutton focused heavily on both players after full-time while also dismissing suggestions Johnston should have been shown a red card.
The Johnston challenge quickly became one of the major talking points online after the match, particularly among Rangers supporters. Nick Walsh booked the Canadian immediately and VAR never upgraded the punishment despite lengthy complaints afterwards.
Looking back at the incident, the yellow card always looked like the correct outcome.
Johnston caught Moore late, but there was never any excessive force through the challenge and the Rangers winger was already moving away from danger close to the touchline when contact arrived.
Celtic were also already beginning to dominate the match around that stage anyway.
Once Engels started controlling the rhythm in midfield and Johnston pushed Rangers deeper down the flank, the game swung heavily towards O’Neill’s side. Rangers struggled badly trying to cope with Celtic’s movement and intensity during the second half.
Callum McGregor began dictating possession, Kieran Tierney repeatedly surged forward from the left side and Maeda’s movement inside the final third became almost impossible to handle.
The Japanese forward eventually finished the game in spectacular fashion.
His second goal, an outrageous overhead kick beyond Jack Butland, sent Celtic Park into chaos and capped one of Celtic’s strongest derby displays of the season after the break.
Nafisa
