Ange Postecoglou admits Celtic struggled to deal with Rangers’ set-piece threat during Saturday’s Old Firm derby with James Tavernier’s stunning free-kick a high-point on a disappointing afternoon at Parkhead.
Mick Beale has only tasted defeat twice in 21 games since taking over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Ibrox. That both of those defeats came at the hand of Rangers’ green-clad rivals from across the Glasgow divide, then, will understandably rankle.
Saturday’s 3-2 loss at a raucous Parkhead ensured that Celtic have one hand and four fingers on the Premiership title. And, in truth, it is a minor tragedy that Tavernier’s stunning free-kick on the stroke of half-time – rattling the bar on it’s way in for extra aesthetic effect – counted for nothing in the end.
Of the captain’s 100 goals in Rangers colours, this was front and centre among the very best of them.
James Tavernier hit Rangers 100 goals during Old Firm derby
“The game had everything,” Postecoglou admits. “They were really threatening from set-pieces, you know. They caused us some problems. (Tavernier’s goal) is a great free-kick. He has executed it perfectly, and it takes the wind out of your sails a little bit.
“They were always a threat at set-pieces and that made the game nervy at different parts.”
The frustration, as far as Postecoglou’s opposite number is concerned, will be that Rangers did not quite do themselves justice from open play during an all-action encounter which scrubbed out any lingering hopes of an unlikely title charge.
And this was not the way Tavernier would have wanted to bring up a century of Rangers goals; that searing free-kick and that late headed consolation merely a footnote in another dispiriting trip across the city.
“(Scoring 100 goals is) incredible for a right back,” Beale tells Rangers Review. “It’s not an easy thing being the captain or manager of such a big club. Certainly when you’re not picking up trophies.
“But what that boy gives his team and the improvements he’s made over the years have been fantastic.
“He scores at the rate of a striker. He also assists as well. So that’s a fantastic milestone for him. When the dust settles from this game and the disappointment (subsides), it’s important that he gets accolades for that achievement.”
