Celtic debrief: Uncharacteristic savaging, advice for Adam Idah, six-year rule with Rangers snapped
Celtic’s title hopes took a sizeable dent when they were defeated 2-0 by Hearts at Tynecastle and we pick out three green-and-white-themed takeaways from the match:
The huge moment
The big talking point from this defeat was the red card given to Yang Hjun-jun. The South Korean was sent off after a VAR check following a high boot that caught Hearts left-back Alex Cochrane in the face. Yang certainly didn’t mean to hurt Cochrane but there can be little doubt that his foot was too high. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was left fuming by the intervention by the VAR John Beaton back at Clydesdale House – especially because match referee Don Robertson deemed it to be a yellow card offence. It was quite similar to the red card St Mirren Toyosi Olusanya received against Celtic for catching Joe Hart in the face back in Celtic’s January win over the Buddies. The Yang incident was not the only VAR check, as Tomoki Iwata’s handball for Hearts’ penalty was also given on the advice of Beaton. It all led to an uncharacteristic savaging of the officials from the normally mild-mannered Rodgers. His mood will be darkened further by Yang’s upcoming suspension, as he looked Celtic’s most dangerous attacking outlet for the 15 minutes he was on the pitch.
Idah’s missing boots
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Hide AdAdam Idah has barely put a foot wrong since coming in on loan from Norwich City – but this was not the Irishman’s day. His penalty on 11 minutes, which was saved by Zander Clark’s legs, was pretty timid and he also missed two very presentable chances in the second half. On the penalty miss, Rodgers commented: “In fairness to Adam he’s done the right thing, he just needed to lift it a bit more. He decided to go down the middle and didn’t get it as high as he wanted.” Celtic will need the Irish forward to banish memories of a difficult day in Edinburgh, in stark contrast to his previous trip when he netted two spot-kicks against Hibs. He still has a huge part to play this season.
Ending a six-year rule
It’s pretty rare for Celtic and Rangers both to lose in the same round of fixtures, but a six-year wait for such a phenomenon was snapped after Celtic followed up Rangers’ 2-1 weekend defeat by Motherwell with this loss in Gorgie. The last time they both were turned over at the same time in top flight? The weekend of February 3, 2018, when Rangers lost 2-1 to Hibs and Kilmarnock overcame Celtic 1-0 at Rugby Park. The only two survivors from then that were involved in the matches in question this weekend: Rangers captain James Tavernier and Celtic left-back Greg Taylor, although he was actually in Killie colours in 2018.