A penny for the thoughts of the Hearts manager, Derek McInnes, as John Beaton was diverted by the video assistant referee towards the pitchside screen. Only seconds of regulation time remained. An afternoon that for so long looked to belong to Rangers was about to take a significant twist. As Beaton awarded Celtic a penalty, from which Reo Hatate eventually scored, idle Hearts emerged the real winners.
The Edinburgh club’s aspirations of winning the Scottish title for the first time since 1960 have been enhanced over back-to-back weekends. Hearts lead Rangers by six and Celtic, who play their game in hand at Aberdeen on Wednesday, by eight. McInnes has the making of history within his grasp. No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson, the last non‑Old Firm manager to win the top league, thought it appropriate to take in the weekend fixtures at Tynecastle and Ibrox.
This was no ordinary Glasgow derby. It involved one of the finest goals scored in the long history of the fixture. Rangers were utterly dominant for a half, which preceded their own capitulation and a complete turnaround in Celtic’s performance level. Had Celtic scored even slightly earlier than Hatate’s effort, which landed 20 seconds into stoppage time, they would have fancied themselves to win. This scenario felt unfathomable at half-time, such was Rangers’ superiority.
The home support made no secret of their frustration at full time. One chap seated immediately behind the press area branded the home team “fucking bottlers”. While the sentiment is extreme, the core principle is fair enough. Rangers have drawn a dozen of their 29 league games. This one, from such a position of authority, did nothing to remove the sense that Rangers are a soft touch.
Danny Röhl dismissed perfectly valid questioning about the mentality of his squad. “We are all disappointed,” the Rangers manager said. “We played an outstanding game for 50 minutes but football is about 95.” Playing part‑games is a damaging Rangers habit.
Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager, said: “We could easily have won it. We dominated the second half so much that the [home] crowd seemed to turn on their own players. We still have the heart and desire to retain the championship.”
Rangers’ afternoon had started in explosive fashion. Youssef Chermiti launched himself into the air and the ball into the Celtic net courtesy of a wonderful overhead kick. This was a goal of stunning quality, that partly summed up his erratic Rangers career. So, too, did a backheel in midfield that gifted possession to Celtic shortly before the first of the visitors’ goals.
Albeit lacking the star quality of his first, Chermiti’s second goal still involved a fine finish. Dane Murray had slashed an attempted clearance backwards and Julián Araujo was ponderous. In nipped Chermiti to poke beyond Viljami Sinisalo.
At this point, Ibrox was raucous. Far too much of the racket involved the kind of sectarian trash that Scotland’s football authorities and Rangers themselves have allowed to return due to pitiful inaction. Rangers, now under American ownership, should be working much harder to remove this archaic stain on the club’s reputation. Yet on the field at least, Rangers were progressive. O’Neill branded his team “uncertain” in quite the understatement. Mikey Moore, the Tottenham loanee, was tormenting the Celtic defence.
On the occasion of his 74th birthday, O’Neill did two key things at half‑time. His replacing of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was visibly shocked by the pace of the game, with the excellent Hatate was important. So, too, was O’Neill’s messaging. “I told the players how important the next goal was,” O’Neill said. “We were still in the game despite not being at the races.”
Rangers will reflect on a Tuur Rommens chance within three minutes of the restart. Rommens could have placed Röhl’s team out of sight but was instead wasteful. Celtic duly gained a foothold, as emphasised by Kieran Tierney rising to plant Benjamin Nygren’s cross into the Rangers net. The home crowd were now audibly edgy.
Daizen Maeda should have restored parity but headed straight at Jack Butland. Murray sent a free header over the Rangers crossbar. Luke McCowan was afforded the best Celtic chance of the lot but shot tamely. Just when it felt as if Rangers may cling on, Dujon Sterling was adjudged to have handled from another Maeda header. Hatate’s penalty was saved by Butland, as was the rebound; at the third time of asking the Japanese midfielder bundled home.
There followed a full-time rumpus that O’Neill later branded “feeble”. The Irishman poked fun at his backroom staff, who delivered a birthday cake with candles to him on Saturday evening. “It was pathetic,” he said. “The problem was, it wasn’t my birthday until midnight. This was at half seven. I could have died in between.”
There remains life in Celtic’s title defence. Just about. The more days that belong to Hearts make you wonder. They couldn’t … could they?
