Former Man City defender Micah Richards has issued is verdict on Yang’s defending in Celtic’s 3-3 draw with Rangers in the Glasgow Derby. Celtic appeared to have won it through a 87th minute from Adam Idah, immediately after Sima equalised for Philippe Clement’s side, but Rangers stole a point with a curled effort from Rabbi Matondo.
Speaking to The Rest is Football podcast, Richards assessed the last minute equaliser from the Welsh Internationalist that held Celtic to a draw and took issue with the South Korean’s role in the goal.
“When Matondo got the ball, I’m screaming. I’m screaming at the defender to just show him wide.
“I’m coming back from London, watching it on Sky Go, and I’m thinking: ‘Oh, the game’s done here,’ then ‘what are you doing? You’re showing him the wrong way!’
“When he hit it, I just knew it was going in the back of the net. It was an incredible finish.”
Richards is quite correct and his reaction was the same as most supporters, he dangles his leg out and is just left in the most passive manner, allowing Matondo to get the shot away, which he hits perfectly. It says it all that Rangers scored three times and their xG sat at little over 1.5 goals.
Frustratingly for Celtic fans and the rest of the team, Matondo scored a similar goal against Hibs the week before, meaning that in their pre-game analysis, Celtic would have highlighted that this is a strength of the pacey winger.
Sadly for Yang, he appeared to be lost in the atmosphere at Ibrox, which was highlighted by some particularly amateur defending in the dying stages of the game. Hopefully, the young attacker is not too disheartened by the mistake and can use it as a motivation in the remaining games of the season to show his quality to the Celtic support.
