Gary McAllister heaped praise on Rangers’ stand-in right-back Leon Balogun after the Scottish champions overcame a raft of absentees due to Covid to beat Celtic 1-0 on Sunday.
Balogun covered for captain James Tavernier and Nathan Paterson on the right of a back four, while Allan McGregor was also absent.
McAllister himself took charge for a second successive game as boss Steven Gerrard continues his isolation following a Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
And the assistant was delighted with the resolve of his players.
“It’s fantastically pleasing. It has been a very strange three or four days,” McAllister said. “People were playing with injuries today. Not knowing who was available. But you saw people coming together.
“From one to 11 we were outstanding, but if I have to pick one [then] Leon Balogun was superb. His defensive display showed why we brought him here. He can play three or four different positions.
“We’ve seen a change in Robby McCrorie, a change in his demeanour around the training ground. I think he feels he belongs now.”
The winner, from defender Filip Helander charging in to slam home Borna Barisic’s corner, came midway through the second half of a tense derby where chances proved hard to come by.
Indeed, Celtic laboured for inspiration and created little going forward, but could have silenced the crowd through both Odsonne Edouard and Kyogo Furuhashi. Both squandered their opportunities having found space in the box.
“It could have gone either way. We had a couple of good chances towards the end,” said Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.
“When you know it’s going to be tight getting the first goal important. We didn’t, and unfortunately we paid the price. It was a game where we needed to take a foothold and capitalise on our chances.
“We’re throwing guys in at different times, when this transfer window ends we’ll settle the squad down and start building results. We need to start winning games, particularly in the league.”
Fans make up for below-par Old Firm
It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t a classic, but it was an Old Firm with fans. Well, Rangers fans at least. The decision to withhold away tickets for Celtic supporters after the Hoops confirmed they can’t guarantee a similar allocation for the return fixture in the New Year meant Sunday’s first rumble of the season between these rivals played out in an all-blue Ibrox.
And thank goodness the terraces were full.
For were it not for the supporters this would have gone down as one of the poorest Old Firms in recent years. Just a handful of shots from either side, the ball largely stuck in the middle third, isolated strikers and a winner provided by a set-piece that the visitors should really have challenged as the ball swung into the box.
But the noise – the sheer sound of the Rangers fans – and their bouncing in unison that rattled the TV cameras and shook the dust off the stadium roof, was a spectacle in itself, regardless of the action on the field.
Perhaps we shouldn’t have expected a high-quality encounter on this first Old Firm, three days after both sides successfully progressed into the Europa League group stage. Quality Thursday-Sunday football is hard to keep up, especially given the regimes both Glasgow clubs have played under during an intense summer schedule.
McAllister knows all about the Old Firm and executed Gerrard’s instructions perfectly. Postecoglou thought he knew what he was getting himself into when taking up the job this summer. But nothing prepares a manager for their first Glasgow derby. Celtic have work to do.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3BmV2nc
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