Aasgaard’s red card challenge ‘one of the worst tackles’ Engels has witnessed

Celtic midfielder Arne Engels described Thelo Aasgaard’s challenge on teammate Anthony Ralston as among ‘one of the worst tackles’ he has witnessed in his career…

Strikes by Johnny Kenny, Callum McGregor, and Callum Osmand secured a 3-1 extra-time victory for Martin O’Neill’s side in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, giving the interim manager his 17th derby win against theRangers.

Celtic will face St Mirren in the League Cup final next month and whether O’Neill is in charge of the Hoops to potentially secure his eighth trophy at the club as boss remains to be seen.

The game’s turning point came in the 38th minute when referee Nick Walsh sent off the Norwegian midfielder for a horrendous challenge on Ralston, with replays revealing visible stud marks on the right-back’s thigh and torn shorts from the impact.

The 22-year-old Belgian, joined by a number of his Celtic teammates, reacted angrily to the Norwegian’s outrageous tackle.

🗣️ ‘That’s above my head! But everyone is really happy with him.’

Arne Engels coy on Martin O’Neill getting the Celtic job on a full-time basis.

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Speaking in the mixed-zone post-match, Engels said: “Yeah, that was an incredible tackle, actually. It was crazy. If you go into somebody like that, that’s just crazy, I think. You need to protect your teammates. So, I was at a good angle to see it, and it didn’t really look good. Those tackles can’t be on a football pitch.”

Engels firmly supported referee Walsh’s decision, insisting it was the right one. When questioned about the severity of the incident, he admitted, “Yeah, probably one of the worst.”

It’s a red card for Thelo Aasgaard! 🟥

Rangers are now a goal and a man down against Celtic 😬#PremierSportsCup pic.twitter.com/WyBkjlx5kk

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“We know that it’s a really big game and there are going to be tackles and duels that are on the limit. We also did that, and that was also a positive thing about our intensity that we also showed that we were there.”

“Those tackles can’t be on a football pitch, and you need to defend our players, and that’s what we did as a group,” he added. “I think we reacted really well to that, and I think the referee made the right decision.”

‘I hope we can kick on from this’: Arne Engels says the Celtic team are delighted with the job interim boss Martin O’Neill is doing as they look forward to another final and the chance to make up for last season’s Scottish Cup disappointment. https://t.co/ZIpHffyZQ8 pic.twitter.com/8VnBfhvkvy

— STV Sport (@STVSport) November 2, 2025

⚽️ The Sligo man can’t stop scoring!!!

Arne Engels sends a cross in from the corner and a brilliant header from Kenny puts us 1-0 ahead at Hampden!#CELRAN | #PremierSportsCup | #CelticFC🍀

pic.twitter.com/7jlGpmtXC4

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 2, 2025

Conor Spence

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