Celtic 2-3 theRangers – An atrocious start, Hoops were so passive and sloppy

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The Celtic Star

·16 March 2025

Celtic 2-3 theRangers – An atrocious start, Hoops were so passive and sloppy

Well the real Celtic failed to turn up once again as another under par performance against our biggest rivals saw us hand theRangers yet another three points, a result that delays our quest to seal our fourth title in a row for another few weeks…

Cyriel Dessers of theRangers goes down with an ‘injury’ and is checked on by Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic during the Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

First off I have to say this result will have no bearing on the outcome of the league title race, but similar to the New Year’s game, it is simply not good enough no matter what the context to hand theRangers such easy wins, especially at our own ground, in front of our own supporters.

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Celtic were absolutely atrocious in the first half

Celtic were absolutely atrocious in the first half. It was like watching a re-run of our last meeting at Ibrox where everything we did was so passive and sloppy. TheRangers didn’t do anything spectacular but deserved to go into the break leading. I can only imagine Rodgers was less than happy at half time and thankfully Celtic came out in the second period with an added vigour and started to dominate the game. After getting back on level terms we somehow managed to throw the game away at the end to hand theRangers the win.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

To watch Celtic fail to get up for the battle is worrying

I have to say it’s been incredibly frustrating watching these last two matches against our city rivals. To watch Celtic fail to get up for the battle is worrying. We are easily the better team but yet we have seemed to be unable to raise our game against them recently. It’s obvious that being in such a commanding lead in the league has lead to this failure but these players must realise that no matter how the season is panning out that these derby games are still a huge deal and they should be going out there and treating each game like the season is still hanging in the balance.

Winning these games is breathing life into them

Winning these games is breathing life into them during a season that has been nothing short of a disaster domestically. Instead of keeping our foot on their necks we are delivering CPR to a team that we are absolute levels above. Some may disagree that we are a far superior side but even if you look at today’s game you see that when we turned it on for a period in the second half we looked like we could completely blow them away. Unfortunately we didn’t and that failure to bury them lead to the finish were they got a huge stroke of luck and managed to score a goal they barely deserved.

Hamza Igamane of theRangers scores his team’s third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Sandman will be along shortly

Sandman will be along later to give his Definitive Ratings on The Celtic Star and I’m sure not a lot of the Celtic players will be coming out with high marks. Personally I thought Hatate, Jota and Maeda did well, as did Yang when he came on. A shout out as well for Nawrocki who came in from the cold and performed admirably. The big thing we will all have noticed from today is how important Callum McGregor is. He was a huge miss and it’s imperative we put the wheels in motion soon to find his long term successor as he won’t be around forever.

theRangers certainly rode their luck

Although today was frustrating it’s definitely something that shouldn’t be blown out of proportion. Yes that’s two in a row we have lost to them but in the ones that have really mattered we have come out on top. They certainly rode their luck at times in that second half while we couldn’t seem to catch a break. Igamane’s winner although well struck only became a chance due to his marker slipping and even after that he got lucky when the ball bobbled it’s way into him. Then later Alastair Johnston’s last gasp miss pretty much summed up our luck on the day.

Barry Ferguson, Interim Manager of theRangers, celebrates with backroom staff after Mohamed Diomande scored the team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The importance of end this bad run in the next game at Ibrox post split

It is important however to end this bad run in the next game post split. No matter whether the league is wrapped up or not by then we must lay a marker down for next season. The new campaign could see their club receive new investment and a new management team (although I’m hoping Barry gets the job permanently) which will potentially see them get a bit of a bounce so we need to make sure we are fully ready for the challenge.

The only thing that can stop this Celtic team from continuing their dominance in Scotland is complacency. We have seen what that can look like over these last two matches against our bitter rivals. And it is far from being pretty.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, looks on prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

We must ensure it doesn’t creep in next season.

Conall McGinty

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27 August 2000: Henrik Larsson celebrates during the Scottish Premier League match against Rangers at Celtic Park. Celtic won the game 6 – 2. Photo: Stu Forster /Allsport