Celtic suffered their first defeat at home this season after losing 3-2 against Old Firm rivals Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday.
The Bhoys still lead the Scottish Premiership table by 13 points with eight games left, but they will be disappointed after losing twice to Rangers this season.
Rangers played with more intensity and took a 2-0 lead at the break. Celtic were below par in the first half, and the home fans had very little to cheer about.
After the break, the Bhoys showed signs of returning to their old best and scored two goals to level the tie.
In the end, Rangers striker Hamza Igamane sealed the tie in their favour with a thunderous strike. Celtic created a few good opportunities but it was too late to stage a revival.
Chris Sutton was unhappy with Kasper Schmeichel’s performance in the first half. The Danish goalkeeper made a huge blunder by giving the ball to Vaclav Cerny, but it didn’t end up in goal.
The Sky Sports pundit remarked: “Scandalous from Schmeichel. Could Cerny have shot earlier?”
Sutton was also unhappy with Cameron Carter-Vickers’s role leading to Igamane’s goal.
He added: “Celtic missed Callum McGregor’s leadership and they missed his quality. It was so careless the goal they gave away for the winner. I think Cameron Carter-Vickers ducks out of the way.”
Kyogo Furuhashi has been the scourge of Rangers over the years, but in his absence, the baton has been passed to Daizen Maeda. The Japanese forward brought life back at Parkhead when he scored early in the second half.
Reo Hatate, whose future has come under speculation, added another to stage a dramatic comeback. Celtic were mechanical in their approach and probably didn’t hit the high gears that we normally see from them.
