Scott Arfield says Celtic’s game management was too much for Rangers

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Celtic earned a narrow 1-0 win in the first Old Firm derby of the season.

Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield has told the Daily Record that he believes Celtic’s game management outdid Steven Gerrard’s side in the first Old Firm derby of the season.

The 29-year-old played the entire 90 minutes of the 1-0 loss to Brendan Rodgers’ men, who earned all three points at Parkhead thanks to Olivier Ntcham’s second-half goal following a superb counter attack from The Hoops.

Celtic really should have added to the scoreline after hitting the woodwork on multiple occasions, while Rangers had goalkeeper Allan McGregor to thanks for his excellent display between the sticks.

Rangers did very little to test Craig Gordon, though Alfredo Morelos did sting the fingertips of the Scotland stopper in the second half. Canada’s newest captain, Arfield, believes it was Celtic management of the game that beat Rangers.

“I’m quite glad the first one is out of the way because you build yourself up thinking about it, so I am glad it’s over and I think we will be better for it,” Arfield said.

“I think in terms of experience, Celtic were far better in terms of ways of managing the game. The manager is obviously new in the fixture too. We never got the result we wanted and we never turned up on the day. It was a flat performance.”

Arfield has impressed in his 10 opening appearances for the Gers since joining the club from Burnley, though he is yet to have any kind of impact in the final third with no goals or assists as of yet.

The midfielder is set to return to Ibrox this week after captaining Canada to a huge 8-0 win over US Virgin Islands in which he supplied one assist. He is likely to start against Dundee on Saturday at Ibrox.