MARTIN O’NEILL had to accept one point from a remarkable seesawing derby battle at Ibrox on his 74th birthday.
A dramatic encounter had seen Celtic go in at the interval trailing by two goals – both scored by Youssef Chermiti – with the champions on the ropes as they tried in vain to get a foothold in the game.
O’Neill must have worked his magic with his talk-in with his struggling players during the crucial 15-minute interlude because there was an extraordinary shift in power as the match transformed in the second period.
Kieran Tierney headed in the opener and the visitors had other opportunities until the fading moments when a handball by Dujon Sterling deflected a close-range Daizen Maeda header onto the chest of keeper Jack Butland.
YOU NEED HANDS…Dujon Sterling deflects Daizen Maeda’s header as keeper Jack Butland attempts to cover.
BY THE RIGHT…Reo Hatate sends in his penalty-kick.
THIRD TIME LUCKY…Reo Hatate forces the ball home after Jack Butland’s double save.
The ball was smuggled clear, but Steven McLean, on VAR, instructed referee John Beaton to review the incident on his touchline monitor and the match official duly pointed to the spot.
Reo Hatate saw his penalty-kick pushed away by Butland. The midfielder followed up, but once again the shotstopper managed to claw the ball away.
Thankfully, Hatate completed the task at the third time of trying to give the Parkhead side a point.
However, the Japanese playmaker, who had come on for an off-the-pace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at half-time, had been wayward with a shot earlier that was fired waywardly over the bar from a great position as Celtic had a sequence of missed opportunities.
Luke McCowan was clean through, but shot straight at a grateful Butland and Dane Murray also had a free header that failed to hit the target.
O’Neill insisted Celtic could have won to take all three points. As it stands, the champions are two points adrift of Danny Rohl’s side with a game in hand which is against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday evening.
THE FIGHTBACK IS ON…Kieran Tierney races away after heading in Celtic’s first goal with skipper Callum McGregor poised to join in the celebrations.
Reflecting on a punishing, pulverising all-Glasgow confrontation, the Birthday Bhoy said: “Obviously, we got off to a bad start. The get a goal, crowd up for the game, those types of things.
“Then we concede a poor second goal and we have not been good in the half. We had moments to deal with the ball and it kept breaking down for us.
“But the second half, other than first three or four minutes, belonged totally to us.”
O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “We got forward, we showed commitment, drive, determination and the ability to pass the ball – and we could have won.
“Before we got the penalty kick, we had chances to win, and we deserved at least a point in the game considering our second-half performance.”
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