Yesterday one thing counted, and just one: getting through.
I’m going to talk about the reaction to the game and the aftermath, but first, I’ll focus on the game itself. There’s certainly plenty to say about what came after, and certain people have ensured that’s the case.
As for the game, I thought we largely dominated it. I don’t see any reason why anyone in the media—or anywhere else—should think Kilmarnock were unlucky or that an injustice was done. Celtic controlled the match from start to finish, barring a brief spell when we took our foot off the gas, and they got their equalising goal.
That goal, by the way, should not have stood, and there’s going to have to be a very lengthy explanation for why it was given—not some half-baked excuse from the BBC or another media outlet packed with Ibrox apologists.
You know what, though? Ultimately, it didn’t matter. While I think we deserve an explanation, it’s not going to change anything, and it certainly won’t change the fact that we’re in the next round. It’s one of those decisions we’ll just have to shrug off because, in the end, it hasn’t cost us. That said, I’m sure the quest for answers will continue.
Did we make it harder for ourselves? Yes, in some ways, I think we did. But I think that on balance, we deserved it. We played the better football and created far more chances. In fact, we created so many that we could have won ten games with them.
If there’s any frustration, it’s that we didn’t kill the game off when we had the chance.
The early goal gave us the opportunity. We were wasteful.
That’s something we’ll need to fix, especially with Europe on the horizon. Being wasteful in front of goal is a habit we can’t afford to carry forward. There are likely to be SPFL games where it costs us points, so we’ll have to address it quickly.
Right now, I’m especially frustrated by the strikers. I’ve defended them, saying Brendan Rodgers’ system doesn’t depend on forwards scoring every week, and I still believe that. Once again, it was one of our wide men, Daizen Maeda, who scored the crucial second goal. But I’d like to see more from the strikers. Sometimes, I think this team’s unselfishness works against them.
There were moments yesterday when the forwards could have taken shots themselves but instead squared the ball to others who seemed better placed. That’s admirable in its way, but strikers are supposed to have that killer instinct.
That said, I’m not really complaining. Seeing the team ethos expressed in that way is always encouraging, and it’s done far more good than harm this season.
A couple of players deserve special praise.
Callum McGregor was outstanding. He scored an excellent goal, and I know some will point to my recent piece about him.
But let’s be clear: the only people criticising it are those who didn’t read it and just reacted to the headline. Frankly, I couldn’t care less what someone thinks if that’s the limit of their understanding.
Callum does need time out—not because he isn’t the best player at the club but precisely because he is. You have to protect your best players.
Austin Trusty also deserves a mention. I wouldn’t have played him yesterday; I said so beforehand. After his shaky display against Dundee, I was worried about his confidence, but Brendan showed faith in him, and Trusty repaid it. He was excellent—barely put a foot wrong—and it was good to see Brendan acknowledge that after the match.
Reo Hatate had a decent game despite missing a few chances, and Arne Engels was solid as well. But what’s most obvious is how different a team we are when both wide men are fit and firing. That just reinforces my belief that we need reinforcements in the January window to ease the pressure on them.
That window is becoming even more important, but right now, the focus is on Wednesday. Yesterday’s win was crucial for ensuring we go into that match in the right frame of mind. Conceding a goal wasn’t ideal, but I never felt we were in any real danger.
I’m only disappointed we didn’t score more or get the strikers on the scoresheet. But as Brendan said after the game—and as I said before it—all we needed to do was get through. And we did. Let’s see who we get in the next round.
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
We did deserve to win and despite McInnes whining it was a clear freekick, replays showed the forward using his elbow to push Trusty over. However our finishing was absolutely dreadful, I cannot remember a game where so many clear cut chances were missed by our players and when you analyse our performances this season it becomes clear that last night wasn’t a one off occurrence. FotMob statistics show the following; Big chances missed – Kyogo 17, Maeda 12, Idah 10. Our players occupy the top 3 positions in the league for this metric. To me that points to a lack of composure and it’s something that should concern us as we go back into the Champions League where chances are limited.
Kyogo, Maeda and Hatate were all guilty of missing big chances in the first which would’ve put us out of sight. All 3 put in a great shift though and were too much for Killie. I think the instance your referring to is Idah’s one where he burst through and squared it Kuhn who made a mess of it? I was praying Idah would shoot himself, the pass wasn’t a bad option but it was a good chance for him to get an emphatic goal from a chance he created for himself. No complaints with team choice or subs, it’ll probably be the 11 on Wednesday, we have to be more clinical.
Wasteful finishing, hopefully it will click in Europe.
Played really well in the game, possibly surprised Kyogo left on to 82nd minute, his confidence is not as it was but he is still getting into the right areas. Kuhn makes a huge difference to the team. Calmac was superb. Wish Johnston could defend a bit better and is not caught out of position so much,
Firstly James, I agree with your points in this latest article! I thought we played really well and no one could have complained if we’d won 5 or 6 one!
However, I come back to a point which Ive previously made and that is our wastefulness in front of goal. I re-iterate again, that our football yesterday was a joy to watch at times, but that is three games in a row that we’ve allowed overwhelmed opponents, back into games that should have been done and dusted.
As we all know, when it’s only 1-0, a game is finely balanced, so we have to take these chances when they arrive.
With that criticism out of the way I commend our players for their work rate and determination, in getting this victory. Like yourself, my understanding was if an arm is used in the build up to a goal, then the goal cannot stand !
I’m sure we shall get an “honest” dissection of this in due course.
The cup win keeps the confidence and momentum going and takes us into our vital CL tie on Wednesday.
Some team is going to take a leathering from us soon, so let’s all hope we are reserving it for the Swiss lads.
Great turnout out from the fans yesterday and I’m sure Paradise will be rocking on Wednesday! HH
A goal cannot be scored off the arm of the goal scorer, regardless of whether it was accidental and or the position of the arm (see. arsenal’s disallowed goal from yesterday). However if in the build up to a goal the ball comes off the arm of another attacking player (accidentally and arm in natural position) then the goal stands.
Thanks for clarifying Joe! There was a lot of confusion at the stadium, as all we were hearing was that it had came off an arm ! If that’s the rule, fair enough !
Got them back into a game, where we should have been out of sight, but credit to our team for getting through in the end !
Lengthy explanation nothing. An accidental handball that we would be utterly appalled at conceding a penalty for. He has arm tucked in at side and is turning to get out of the way. That the ball then falls to a team mate who scores is unfortunate for us, but something that is permissable within the laws of football.
After a game like that we should focus on being more clinical with our chances, not some made up gripe about a decision the refs got right. And we can confidently say that the same outcome would have happened Vs sevco, as Dundee United showed us recently.
Just glad to be through…
Hopefully Sevco get drawn away to High flying in form Hibernian tomorrow night !