Callum McGregor and Scott Sinclair notched a goal in either half as Celtic kept their treble dreams alive against Rangers.
Pedro Caixinha’s bark may be worse than his bite. For all the manager’s fighting talk, proclaiming Rangers the best club in Scotland, they lacked any semblance of fight while exiting the Scottish Cup with a whimper against Celtic in the semi-finals on Sunday.
The Portuguese Man o’ War was instead forced to prowl the touchline and watch on as a composed strike from Callum McGregor and Scott Sinclair’s second-half penalty capped a dominant performance from Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic.
You could argue that Rangers were even more inferior at Hampden Park than during their 5-1 Old Firm battering in September. Their use of the ball, in particular, played straight into Celtic’s hands.
And former Bhoys great Pat Bonner was left stunned by Rangers’ lack of quality in possession.
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing at times in Rangers’ passing,” the four-time title winning goalkeeper told the BBC.
“We expect them to work hard, but it’s their quality on the ball they need to improve, which has been very, very poor today.”
Anyone watching the game would struggle to disagree. Rangers mustered just 34 per cent possession at the national stadium with central midfielders Jason Holt and Emerson Hyndman (below) in particular looking nervy, timid even, on the ball.
Andy Halliday, who started in a midfield three, was subbed off at half time after being lucky to escape a red for a horrific lunge on the influential Patrick Roberts inside three minutes.
Caixinha may talk a good game but, on the basis on Sunday’s evidence, the gap between Celtic and Rangers is wider than ever.
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