Postecoglou’s Celtic unable to turn the tables on depleted Rangers

Celtic coach Ange Postecoglou with his signing, Kyogo Furuhashi ,who has been a revelation in Scotland. The Japanese, however, was not able to impose himself in Sunday's Old Firm derby with rivals Glasgow Rangers. Photo: Peter Dejong/AP

30 August 2021 11:56am

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As games go in Scotland, there is nothing bigger than the Old Firm Derby between Glasgow behemoths Glasgow Rangers and Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic and when these two meet.

True to recent form, Rangers just prevailed with a 1-0 victory at their Ibrox fortress on Sunday. They have won six and drawn one of their last sever derbies with Celtic.

What made this defeat harder for the men in green and white to swallow was the fact that Rangers were missing their manager Steven Gerrard, captain James Tavernier and their top two keepers Allan McGregor and Jon McLauhglin all down with COVID-19.

Postecoglou placed his prolific Japanese signing Kyogo Furuhashi on the left of an attacking trio that included Frenchman Odsonne Edouard and Liel Abada. The Japanese player has been deadly in the centre and Postecoglou later conceded it had been a mistake not to start him there.

Edouard, who is the focus of transfer rumours, proved wasteful of an easy chance to balance the books.

When the Japanese player was moved back to centre with 20 minutes to go, he proved a headache for the Ranger defence. The Rangers their third-string goalkeeper Robby McRorie proved invaluable when he stopped two Furuhashi efforts in the latter stages of the game.

Meanwhile, former AEK striker Georgios Giakoumakis, 26, is is reportedly being lined up as Edouard’s replacement at Celtic and is close to signing a €2.1 million deal to move from Dutch side VVV Venlo.

Last season, Giakoumakis was leading scorer in in the Netherlands’ second-tier Eredivisie (26 goals in 30 league games), despite the fact that VVV Venlo finished second from last.