By Thomas Durning
Celtic Cruise to Derby Day Victory
Celtic secured all three points in the first Glasgow Derby of the season after they cruised to victory against there closest rivals Rangers.
Celtic made two changes from last weekend's victory against St Mirren with Adam Idah and James Forrest coming out of the team and they were replaced by Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicholas Kuhn respectively.
Rangers made one change from victory last weekend against Ross County with Tom Lawrence coming out of the team and he was replaced by Mohammed Diomande.
The start of the match was played at a high-tempo and the first chance fell to Rangers in the 6th minute when striker Cyriel Dessers recieved a pass into the box and after he switched the ball over to his right foot, he got a shot away which was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Kapser Schmeichel however, the assistant referee put his flag up for offside.
Six minutes later, Celtic thought they broke the deadlock after Nicholas Kuhn sprinted down the right hand of the pitch and squared it to Kyogo who tapped the ball in the net. The VAR review showed that Kuhn was marginally offside and the goal was disallowed.
This disallowed goal gave Celtic a boost and the home side officially went one up five minutes later after good work down the right hand side of the pitch, right back Alaistair Johnston managed to pick out a cut back cross which found Daizen Maeda who slammed the ball into the back of the net. It was great dtermination from the Celtic right back who did everything to try and keep the ball in play and pick out the cross.
This goal totally changed the outlook of the match with Rangers looking confused and unsure where to play and on the other Celtic were getting a lot of joy down the right hand side of the pitch with most of there attacks coming from that area.
In the 36th minute, Celtic could have doubled there lead after midfielder Bernardo passed to left back Greg Taylor who crossed the ball in and it eventually fell to Reo Hatate who ballooned the ball over from inside the area at the back post.
However, just four minutes later, Celtic did double there lead after Kyogo took the ball on the half turn in the middle of the pitch and struck a low and controlled shot into the bottom corner. The Rangers goalkeeper was widely looked at with this goal as he seemed to be poorly positioned when Kyogo struck the ball.
This was to be the last action of the first half and Celtic without creating alot were in total control whereas Rangers after there bright start seemed to lose there confidence and were glad the whistle blew for the end of the half.
The second half got underway and again Rangers got off to a bright start.
In the 52nd minute, the away side had a chance after winger Cerny whipped the ball into the box and the ball was dummied by a Rangers player which created a opening for midfielder McCausland however, his shot was blocked and cleared away.
The second half was mainly controlled by Celtic with Rangers trying there best to create the right energy to push themselves on however the match was decided in the 75th minute after Celtic added a third.
After McCausland lost the ball in a dangerous area, captain Callum McGregor picked the ball up and curled a beautiful shot high into the top left hand corner to all but seal the three points for the home side.
This was to be the last major action from the match and it turned out to be a comfortable afternoon for the home side whereas Rangers fell to there first defeat of the season with major questions asked from there fans about there squad and also other areas of the club.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Bernardo (Engels 62') Hatate (McCowan 77') Kuhn (Forrest 72') Maeda, Kyogo (Idah 77')
Subs not used: Sinisalo, Palma, Trusty, Ralston, Valle
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Propper (Balogun 80') Jefte, Barron, Sterling (Raskin 80') Diomande (Lawrence 58') Cerny (Igamane 80') Matondo (McCausland 38') Dessers
Subs not used: Danilo, Kasanwirjo, Fraser, Kelly,
Referee: John Beaton
Reporter: Thomas Durning
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