Celtic's unsung hero reveals Rangers penalty secret, praises 'brilliant' quartet and hails 'proudest moment'
Defender says win over Rangers is of one proudest moments of his career.
It may have been lost amid chaos that greeted Celtic’s Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers on Sunday, but the warrior-like performance of Liam Scales may just have shut some of the Irishman’s doubters up once and for all.
Handed the captain’s armband and deployed in an unfamiliar position of left-back, the 27-year-old replaced the injured Kieran Tierney and formed part of a makeshift defence that put their bodies on the line at Ibrox as Rangers threw the kitchen sink at the visitors.
However, despite the hosts having 24 attempts at goal to Celtic’s zero, Martin O’Neill’s side refused to budge. Anchored by the cool leadership of the unassuming Irishman, the visitors booked their place in the Hampden Park semi-finals via a shootout after drawing 0-0 in extra-time.
“It was a difficult game,” admitted Scales, who was impervious alongside fellow defenders Julian Araujo, Auston Trusty, Benjamin Arthur and Dane Murray. “Probably not the best game. But when we had to defend, we defended and sometimes it's like that here. It's brilliant to keep a clean sheet and then coming down to penalties, it can go either way and luckily we were better.
“People questioned how we'd get on having four away games in 10 days, having to come here [Ibrox] twice and have a European game in there as well. I just think that the character is brilliant in our dressing room. Benjamin [Arthur], to come into a game like this, he's only played a handful of senior games, he's young, and just to play it the way he did with a cool head. He obviously hasn't played many games, so he couldn't finish out the game, but for the time he was on the pitch, he was excellent.
Praise for ‘brilliant’ teammates
“Auston's [Trusty] obviously experienced and played well. For Dane [Murray] to come in, it's not nice coming off the bench in a game like that. He made some big blocks, big headers. I think all three of them did. It's hard to pick a best out of the three, they were all just brilliant.”
It wasn’t just the defenders who played their part. Finnish goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo has come in recently to replace Kasper Schmeichel and the stopper was an assured last line for Celtic.
“Viljami is such a calming influence on the team,” said Scales. “I said it to him after the game, I don't think he knows how much of a relief it is when he comes out and collects a corner the way he does. It takes so much of that threat away. He was brilliant off his line. He came out and cleared a few ones that were dangerous, but it was over the top, things like that. I think he hasn't put a foot wrong and I'm really delighted for him."
Asked about the character of his teammates taking penalties in front of the Rangers fans, Scales recalled the coin toss: “It was blue on one side and green on the other, funnily enough. You're just hoping that it lands on the green side and you get to go down your end, but obviously, it didn't. I still had confidence in the lads. We practised our penalties yesterday. I think all the lads who stepped up were brilliant. Good courage and good technique as well."
Wearing the captain’s armband
With long-term skipper Callum McGregor ruled out through injury, and vice-captain Cameron Carter-Vickers out injured, the defender was asked to lead the team as they picked up their first cup win at Ibrox since 1957. Asked how high the result ranked in special moments during his Celtic career, Scales said: “I think we do have a team full of leaders. It might not be the most vocal team, but the way the players play and compose themselves on the pitch is. Callum was in there [the dressing room]. He's brilliant at that. He's amazing at speaking and motivating. He was there for all that, so I didn't have to worry about that.
“But it was definitely one of the proudest moments. I was actually the fifth penalty taker as well, so I'm glad it finished up before me, to be fair. But again, it's a quarter-final, we still need to go on and win the semis and win the final for it to be worthwhile." Asked if he knew we he would have put his penalty, Scales joked “Yeah. But I can't say much more!"
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