RANGERS 0 CELTIC 0
IT WILL never be filed in the memory bank as a classic derby encounter and Celtic certainly lacked a killer instinct at Ibrox this afternoon.
There was precious little attractive football on display on an afternoon where Russell Martin’s team smothered the Hoops midfield and restricted the champions to only two shots on target in the second-half.
Neither attempt from Reo Hatate or an acrobatic overhead-kick from Kieran Tierney created too many problems for Jack Butland.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Kasper Schmeichel did not have a save to make all day and his main concern came from an aerial bombardment of long throws and deadballs from James Tavernier.
DEBUT BHOY…Michel-Ange Balikwisha on the ball at Ibrox.
When the smoke of battle had cleared, Brendan Rodgers, rather astoundingly, was left waiting for his first win over the team’s Glasgow rivals in 2025 at the fourth attempt.
There cannot be too many aspects of this dour confrontation to put a smile on the face of the Irishman while opposite number Martin has yet to win any of his four Premiership outings, taking four points from a possible 12 while trailing the Parkhead side by six.
The Hoops toiled throughout the first-half to the extent they did not have a single effort on target. Butland could have caught up with his Sunday reading such was the lack of a goal threat from the visitors.
Daizen Maeda put himself about in his usual up-and-at-’em fashion, but the Japanese ace was lacking service and support from his strangely hesitant team-mates.
New Bhoy Michel-Ange Balikwisha looked nervy throughout and didn’t take on James Tavernier even once when he had the opportunity in one v one situations. It was no surprise when he was substituted after the interval.
Another player making his derby debut, Benjamin Nygren, was allowing the game to pass him by without any telling contribution.
Without any menace from the opposition’s flanks, the hosts pushed forward and the bulk of the play was carried out in the Celtic half.
TAKE OFF…Ibrox striker Bojan Moivski goes to ground after a touch from Liam Scales in an unsuccessful attempt to win at a penalty-kick.
The home fans screamed for a penalty-kick in the sixth minute when their latest signing Bojan Miovski, went down in the box after a challenge from Liam Scales, but referee Don Robertson ignored the calls with the striker taking an obvious dive.
Martin’s team did have the ball in the net in the 33rd minute, but John Souttar was clearly offside before he made contact with a Tavernier free-kick from the left.
The champions would have thought justice had been done following the set-play that had been awarded against Anthony Ralston had been erroneous after TV reruns failed to detect any foul.
Arne Engels was also off the pace in the Hoops engine room and Martin’s men had obviously been ordered to chase every ball and snap into every challenge. Mo Diomande was on top of the Belgian any time the ball was in the vicinity.
Worryingly, Celtic just could not get into their stride or find any sort of rhythm.
NO GOAL…John Souttar leaps between Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales to nod past Kasper Schmeichel, but the Ibrox centre-back was ruled offside.
It took until the 59th minute for Butland to get his gloves dirty when he had to smother a snap shot from Hatate just outside the box. He will deal with more difficult passbacks this season.
Five minutes later, Tierney rolled back the years as he took to the air to hook in a shot, but once again it went straight into the grateful arms of the home keeper.
Rodgers made his first changes in the 65th minute when Balikwisha and Engels were withdrawn to be replaced by James Forrest and Shin Yamada.
Seven minutes later, Marcelo Saracchi came on for his debut as he took over from Kieran Tierney. In the 88th minute, it was the turn of Luke McCowan to replace Hatate.
Forrest and Yamada added zip and zest to the game after their introduction, particularly the 34-year-old winger who was quite happy to take on an opponent and earned a few free-kicks after obvious flustered challenges.
Only three minutes were added on as the game limped to a goalless conclusion.
Alarmingly, it’s the third game in four where Celtic have failed to register a goal.
If the club ever needed a statistic to hasten the signing of a new striker, then surely that is it!
TEAM: Schmeichel; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney (sub: Saracchi 72); Engels (sub: Yamada 65), McGregor, Hatate (sub: McCowan 88); Nygren, Maeda and Balikwisha (sub: Forrest 65).
