As Rangers lose to Celtic again, Joey Barton suffers another embarrassment

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Burnley midfielder may have missed out on more Rangers losses, but individually he fared little better yesterday.

Rangers’ Joey Barton looks dejected

Joey Barton will not have fond memories of his old Old Firm game, a 5-1 defeat which turned out to be his final match in a Rangers shirt.

A subsequent training ground row caused Rangers to cut him loose, and he re-signed with former club Burnley.

Yesterday Rangers suffered another defeat to Celtic, their fourth of the season, losing 2-0 at Hampden Park in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

Barton may have escaped another potential humiliation, but his Sunday was little better, roasted by Manchester United’s Anthony Martial as Burnley slipped to a 2-0 home loss to the Red Devils.

Barton was nutmegged by the French international who left him trailing in his wake as he attempted to catch the United forward.

Predictably he was left behind and Martial went on to open the scoring for United, finishing coolly past Tom Heaton.

Manchester United’s Anthony Martial in action with Burnley’s Matthew Lowton and Joey Barton

The way Twitter reacted to the incident, Barton could have been forgiven for wishing he had stayed at Ibrox…

Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted after the game that Barton should have made the foul, telling the Lancashire Telegraph: “Joey knows the game and it’s the unfortunate side of the game but he should make a foul and that kills the move. If that move continues with sides of this quality then can hurt you as they did.

“I wouldn’t say it was a no-brainer, because you want your players to play in the right manner as best they can, but with his experience, usually, he would make the foul.”

Barton lasted all 90 minutes and stuck at it, but could not find a way to make an impact against United’s expensive midfield.

The outspoken midfielder would probably rather be playing against Paul Pogba than Scott Brown in any case, but he won’t be happy with the results from either.

Yesterday would have a been a great day for Barton to deliver a game winning performance for Burnley against the backdrop of the Old Firm game north of the border. The task just proved too difficult.