Captain Callum McGregor believes Celtic showed character and character in fighting back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.
McGregor delighted with Celtic’s game against Rangers
Martin O’Neill’s side were given a first-half lead by Rangers through a double from 21-year-old Portuguese striker Youssef Cermiti, and it looked like Celtic would be a long way off.
But in a stunning second-half comeback, left-back Kieran Tierney scored with a header in the 56th minute, and Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland saved a spot-kick and a second shot from the rebound before substitute Reo Hatate scored a dramatic equalizer to secure a point. The draw favored William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts.
With nine games remaining, Rangers are six points clear of the Edinburgh club and two points clear of Celtic, who play away to Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
‘Strange’ – Celtic star Chris Sutton says his performance against Rangers was like a ‘testimony’
Critics were not impressed.
The Hoops have also produced important late goals in games against Dundee, Livingston and Kilmarnock in recent weeks, and midfielder McGregor spoke of his team’s resilience.
“That’s probably become more evident in the last four or five weeks. And football isn’t easy.”
“A lot of times you can’t plan. You can plan, but when it comes down to it, you need character, you need personality to get the ball and get back in the game. There’s probably no better place to do that than here.”
“This result shows everyone that we are right about this. Of course we have games coming up that will bring us closer, so we will give it our all in the remaining nine games and see how far we can get.”
McGregor believes Celtic’s never-say-die attitude could send a psychological message to other teams that they are aiming to retain the title.
He said: “Of course we wouldn’t want to be in that position, but like I said, the game is never perfect and it just shows that the team is still fighting.
“We believe in where we want to get to and it’s that attitude of not knowing when we’re going to lose that we get another equalizer on Sunday. On the face of it, it looks like a really good point.”
Thousands of Celtic supporters celebrated at the end, but next Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox will see around 7,500 traveling fans gather in the Broome Lawn Stand in accordance with competition regulations.
McGregor believes both that and the siege mentality they displayed on Sunday could be important factors.
“That’s what we want for the team. We know we have a cup game at the weekend and we want to contribute to that as much as we can,” he said.
“Obviously we’re going to have a full-stand crowd as well, but even little things like that can hopefully change the tide in your favor and we need to be there too.
“But the players showed everything they had and in the end we got some really good points.”
Willie Collum to investigate penalty incident – Hackett
Much attention has been focused on the penalty John Beaton ultimately awarded to the flag bearer, but former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett insists there will be an investigation within the Scottish FA into the penalty missed by the referee.
Dujon Sterling appeared to grab Sebastien Tunekuti’s shirt and tie him up, and Hackett told Football Insider the column would look into that.
“Well, I hope referee Willie Collum sees this and asks the referee and VAR why they didn’t award what should have clearly been a penalty kick.
“The defender held the opponent and prevented contact. It was a foul and should have been awarded a penalty.”
The draw saw both teams eliminated after Hearts’ strong form, but a win at Ibrox could have sealed the season as the Hoops held on to the game.
