Rangers produced a brutal, relentless display to thump Celtic 3-0 in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, a result that hands Derek McInnes a dream 19-year high and leaves Martin O'Neill with major questions to answer.
This wasn't just an emphatic Old Firm victory, secured by the margin of three goals. It was as one sided a thumping as this fixture has seen in a long time and at no point did it feel as if Celtic had so much as a foothold in it, let alone a period of control or dominance.
Had Derek McInnes been on the wrong end of the result on derby day at Ibrox then the bayonets would have been drawn for the Rangers boss all over again. Beating Celtic and knocking them out of the Premier Sports Cup at the quarter final stage was perhaps an absolute must for McInnes and his relationship with the club's supporters. But roughing them up in such a brutal, relentless manner? Well, not even a man of McInnes' vast experience could possibly have seen that one coming.
O'Neill's selection gamble backfires
Before it was over and they were allowed to escape inside to lick their wounds, some serious questions were being asked about the durability of the champions and their ability to defend what is theirs this term. The League Cup was not part of the collection. That was allowed to slip away during the Wilfried Nancy fever dream. But Martin O'Neill managed to salvage a top-flight title and Scottish Cup Double from the Frenchman's bin fire and yesterday the Northern Irishman appeared to be completely bamboozled by what was going on in front of his eyes.
He had no answer to it and neither did the players he had selected, one or two of whom looked spooked out of their minds by the occasion. And yet it could be that, somewhere deep down, O'Neill may have suspected that something like this was on the cards. O'Neill had seemed almost preoccupied by this looming double-header over the weeks leading up to it. His side may have been churning out one win after the next at the top of the table but the veteran boss had been strangely cranky throughout. It was as if he sensed that something more would be required if Celtic were to navigate a safe passage in and out of Ibrox on derby day.
There were issues for the old fox to resolve. He opted to give Sam Johnstone the nod in goal rather than Viljami Sinisalo and, somewhat more surprisingly perhaps, stick with Sebaastian Tounekti on the left flank. Kasper Hogh also led O'Neill's attack which meant Camilo Duran was deployed on the right of Celtic's front three. All of which shoved Haissem Hassan onto a seat on O'Neill's bench. In truth, it all felt like a bit of a muddle.
McInnes's tactical masterstroke
McInnes, on the other hand, pulled a rabbit out of the tactical hat by deploying James Penrice as an extra man in midfield and shaping Rangers up with a back three, adopting a man-for-man approach to dealing with Celtic's attack. As a result of this switch it felt as if Rangers had an extra man in every area of the pitch, with Ryan Naderi and Kevin Kelsy throwing their combined weight around and causing Celtic's defence huge problems.
Johnstone, curiously, was also contributing to their troubles with a nervous, flappy, error-strewn display which could – and probably should – have led to the concession of a couple of first-half goals. His first blunder was a misplaced clearance straight to the feet of Kelsy who ought to have made the keeper pay but rushed his shot and dragged it wide of the Englishman's post. His next was a woeful attempt to punch out a hanging Penrice cross and it took a terrific goal-line clearance from Liam Scales to prevent Misun Kim from punishing the mistake with a low, driven first-time effort.
Misun, for that matter, was struggling to catch the pace of this frenetic derby day, failing to beat the first man with a couple of corners and overcooking a free-kick delivery, all to the audible consternation of the crowd. And yet it did feel as if the opening goal was only a matter of time away regardless. When it arrived, in 21 minutes, it almost blew the roof off the old place. First Naderi muscled his way into Cameron Cartner-Vickers as the American dealt way too casually with a stray forward probe. Naderi not only robbed the defender of the ball but had the presence of mind to shift it quickly into the feet of Kelsy who, in turn, rolled into the path of Neil. The skipper looked up, picked his spot and caressed a finish beyond Johnstone's reach and inside the keeper's right-hand post.
Celtic fall apart after the break
From that moment, or maybe even long before, the result of this tie was never really in any serious doubt. O'Neill attempted to jolt his side into life at the break by replacing the horribly out of touch Tounekti with Hassan. The Egyptian at least gave Rangers something worthy of thinking about on the right flank but not enough to change the pattern of the contest or change its momentum in any discernible way. No, if anything Celtic became even more rattled and disjointed as Rangers continued to come at them in waves of blue.
Minsu almost got the second half off to a flyer with a thumping shot which forced Johnstone into a smart save but this one of few fleeting good moments for a keeper now living on his nerves. He had to pull off a double stop soon after when Misun and then Djeidi Gassamma threatened his goal after more inspirational midfield work from Neil. With the hour mark looming Rangers did make it 2-0 when Kelsy smacked home a shot at the back post after Gassama and then Penrice had picked Celtic apart down the left. Shortly after, £11m man Hogh was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. It was almost the first time the Dane was noticed and that will give O'Neill more food for thought as he prepares for another one of these titanic tussles on Sunday at Celtic Park.
With 75 minutes on the clock this first derby day of the season became even more enjoyable and stress free for the home support as Neil whipped home a third goal from the edge of the box. It was more than McInnes could have dreamed of but a nightmarish experience for O'Neill who now has some major decisions to make ahead of Thursday night's Europa League visit from Ferencvaros and the return of Rangers to the east end next weekend.
