Kicked, robbed but also second best

Yes, I know, you could have put money on Bobby Madden turning in a performance like that, no doubt someone did.  Still, Celtic teams for generations have had to overcome odds determined by the men in black, even without the unpunished brutality on show, Celtic were second best.

Newco applied a soft press, allowing our central defenders time on the ball but tightly competing for space in the middle of the park.  McGregor, Hatate and Rogic were swamped in the middle of the park, and when the ball reached either Taylor or Juranovic, they were seldom presented with even one good forward option.

As a consequence, Celtic repeatedly lost possession inside their own half, inviting wave after wave of attack.  Change was necessary and when it arrived 10 minutes after halftime.  Kyogo and Matt O’Riley replaced Liel Abada and Tom Rogic, Celtic enjoyed their best spell of the match for the next 20 minutes.

O’Riley in particular caused Newco problems and within 10 minutes Greg Taylor gave Celtic the lead.  Cameron Carter-Vickers soon has a great chance to double the advantage but hit the crossbar with a shot in front of goal.

Newco responded on 75 minutes by replacing Aribo and Jack with Davis and Arfield.  The latter levelled the score three minutes later and Newco were never again under sustained pressure.  The winning goal in extra time was narrowly offside.

Those of us in the stadium were unaware of this, so left the ground with a sense that Celtic failed to match their opponents tactically, while bizarrely lacking energy against a team who had played extra time three days earlier.

Two weeks ago Celtic were packed the midfield tighter at Ibrox and were able to find options when passing out of defence.  When we took the game to Newco the lack of precision and coordinated movement neutered what had previously worked well.

Credit where due to van Bronkhurst.  He outmanoeuvred a good coach yesterday.  Nothing was done to change an ineffective midfield until 55 minutes and there was no response after Newco took control after their double substitution.

Celtic were kicked off the park, literally on one occasion.  It was not until Anthony Ralston came on that we saw a robust response.  The game is not always about the pretty stuff, some of the greatest Celtic teams had granite hard geniuses.