Danny Rohl has laid down a challenge to his victorious Rangers squad in the wake of their 3-1 Old Firm derby win over Celtic at Parkhead.
The Ibrox side drew level on points with the champions in second place in the Scottish Premiership courtesy of Youssef Chermiti’s second half double and Mikey Moore’s clinching strike to cap off an impressive comeback.
Yang Hyun-jun’s powerful finish had given Celtic a deserved first-half lead, but Rangers responded emphatically after the restart by pouncing on the hosts’ defensive fragility to make it two consecutive wins at the home of their fiercest rivals.
Danny Rohl assesses Rangers derby win
Reacting on Sky Sports, Rohl admitted: “I think the first half, I take this on my board. You have an idea (what is going wrong), but yeah, I think more important was the reaction in the second half. I think in the first half, we didn’t win the 50-50 duels. They were stronger, they deserved to be in lead.
“But the reaction in the second half was outstanding from my team. Incredible. It was exactly what we want normally from the beginning on. We were aggressive, we win the ball, we were well organised and we played forward the first half. When we win the ball, we didn’t play forward.
I told you before the game, this game needs stories. I think today you have two good stories. The first thing is we come back after 1-0 down in a stronger way to come back and win this 3-1. And the second story, of course, Youssef (Chermiti), he scored. Outstanding.
“But this is now about the next game because if you don’t deliver on Tuesday again, it means nothing. This is now our job to focus, enjoy the moment, enjoy this win today, but now fully focus on the next one. This is what we have to do and improve. It’s about consistently, game by game, especially in this league.”
What Danny Rohl said to his players at half-time
On his half-time team talk, Rohl added: “I was not angry (at half-time). For me, it was about finding solutions. We changed to three midfielders, we pressed them in a different way, and straight from the beginning on we felt they coming come through.
“They couldn’t find the three men what they normally want to do. We were much, much, much better organised. And then after the ball-winning situation, we played straight forward and scored fantastic goals. This is what I want to see. And this is, of course, a boost, such a statement in a big, big game. Outstanding for my team.