Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton delivered a sharp assessment following Celtic’s 3-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox, a defeat that saw the team exit the Premier Sports Cup.
Writing on social media, Sutton described Celtic as having been “mauled” in midfield, criticizing manager Martin O’Neill’s tactical decisions and starting line-up. He specifically highlighted a lack of physical presence in the central areas and called out striker Kasper Hogh, stating the Danish player “needs to offer more.”
Celtic struggled from the opening whistle, unable to match Rangers’ aggressive pressing. Midfielders Callum McGregor and Mika Baur were repeatedly exposed while trying to cover vast open spaces, and Benjamin Nygren was unable to make a meaningful impact on the match.
The decision to start Nygren, Hogh, Camilo Duran, and Sebastian Tounekti together created an attacking unit that lacked defensive balance. When Rangers broke forward, Celtic lacked the physical legs to recover possession, leaving them second best in key physical battles throughout the match.
Hogh had one notable opportunity in the first half when set through by Colby Donovan, but he lost his footing before taking a shot. He struggled to integrate into the match before being substituted in the second half.
The loss highlights a pressing issue for O’Neill and his coaching staff. While Celtic possesses technical skill, the squad was outworked and outmaneuvered in central midfield. With another clash against Rangers scheduled for next weekend at Celtic Park, the coaching staff faces immediate pressure to fix the team’s physical balance.
Well Chris you are right to call out Martin o’neils starting line-up but I don’t think if it would have made a difference if he put out a different line-up as rangers showed Celtic up and embarrassed them as we matched them in every position and the stats don’t lie in the full 90+minutes celtic had one shot on goal they where out of there depth today the club’s big money SIGNINGS don’t even deserve any praise as they where rubbish from the start until they where subbed the only good performance from a celtic player toady was Hassan .mon will need to do a lot better this time next sunday.