Michael Stewart has pinpointed the reason why Celtic fell to a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox despite there being no shots on target to Vasilis Barkas’ goal. The BBC and BT Sport pundit took to Twitter to discuss the New Years Derby between the Glasgow sides and he has disagreed with the claims that Bobby Madden got the red card decision wrong.
Stewart, who is also sometimes seen on Celtic TV, reckons that Celtic’s transfer failings are to blame along with the decisions made at a board room level. The fact that a make-shift, squad player is playing central defender in the biggest game of the season highlights the issues that Celtic have in their dealings. Shane Duffy was heralded in as a revelation when he joined but has failed to impress meaning Lennon didn’t trust him to start.
Celtic were dominant throughout the first half but couldn’t convert any of their chances or openings into a goal. There was always a feeling that Neil Lennon’s side would rue the missed opportunities later in the game and when James Tavernier played a ball up the line towards Alfredo Morelos, those fears were realised. The Columbian striker got the better of Nir Bitton with the Israeli defender opting to drag Morelos down rather than allow him the chance to run into the box. Madden issued a red card. From then, Celtic were ropey and Rangers scored from a set piece after Callum McGregor got the final touch from an Aribo flick on.