Barry Ferguson: Celtic got lucky against Rangers
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Rodgers’ side were able to emerge victorious from the entertaining encounter despite playing with ten men for the majority of the second half after Jozo Simunovic saw red for an elbow on Alfredo Morelos.
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Hide AdInstead of altering his side in a defensive formation, Rodgers decided to bring on striker Odsonne Edouard and play two up front, a move which paid off spectacularly when the Frenchman found the back of the net two minutes later.
The Celtic boss has received praise for his tactical switch in the aftermath of the game, but former Ibrox captain Ferguson is not impressed.
He believes the away side were incredibly fortunate to win the match and that Rodgers would have faced a degree of backlash for his decision had lady luck been smiling on the hosts in one of many instances.
He wrote in his column for the Daily Record: “I’ve watched the game again and keep coming back to the same conclusion – the only real difference between Celtic and Rangers on the day was a massive slice of good fortune.
“When he [Rodgers] made the call to take off James Forrest and replace him with a striker, with his side down to 10 men and the game balanced at 2-2, it was incredibly brave and bold management.
“But what happened next was also incredibly lucky and he’s fortunate it all went his way because had Rangers won 3-2 it would have been him and not Murty who has spent the last week under fire.
“Had Sean Goss showed Edouard down the outside – as he should have done – then the Celtic sub would have been unlikely to score the winning goal two minutes after coming on to the pitch. That wasn’t down to Rodgers being a genius, that was down to sheer luck.
“Long before that Rangers could have had the game wrapped up when they were by far the superior side. Had they taken one of their chances to make it 3-1 in the first half then I’m pretty sure Celtic would not have come back from it.
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Hide Ad“I would even go as far as to say Rodgers got lucky again when Jozo Simunovic was sent off because, for as long as the game was 11 v 11, Rangers were the better side.”
Ferguson also pointed to Goss failing to foul Tom Rogic in the build-up to Celtic’s first goal, Alfredo Morelos’ miss from inside the six-yard box and the injury suffered to David Bates.