Gerrard admits how interval decision played a key role in their win
Rangers’ boss Steven Gerrard admitted that their 1-0 victory over Celtic had to do with fate in the interval decision.
pulled off a great performance in the first half and could take the lead if it wasn’t for
Rangers'
Allan McGregor
, who showed off a magnificent display.
Steven Gerrard
, Rangers’ boss, was making an interval decision in the attack, and the injury to Kemar Roofe forced his hand. Ianis Hagi came as a replacement and the second half of the game was quite an improvement for Gerrard’s side.
However, the turning point came across when Nir Bitton was sent off the pitch for pushing Alfredo Morelos to the ground.
Callum McGregor, Celtic midfielder, found his own net a few minutes later, helping their rivals sit 19 points ahead on the Scottish Premiership table.
“
It was on our mind in terms of myself and the coaching staff to make a change because we weren’t happy with the front three in the first 45 minutes,
” Gerrard said.
“
It was a stroke of luck really – not in terms of the injury as Kemar has a niggle in his quad which we will have to assess and hope he is back fit.
“But it actually played into my hands to get Ianis onto the pitch and I thought he was outstanding in the second half.
“Ianis takes on information really well and I thought he was really brave to receive the ball in the wide areas.
“Ianis basically produced in the second 45 we were looking for from our 10s in the whole game. So credit to him, but it is a bit of a blow losing Kemar
.”
The Gers boss is going to further look into their weak spots in the clash against Celtic, particularly the first half but is pleased with earning three more points.
He said:
“I’ll analyse our performance and I’ll go over it in fine detail as to the reasons why we weren’t ourselves in the first 45 and why we improved more.
“Of course, we will definitely debrief that situation, but in football, I would much rather win and not be ourselves or win ugly and be a winner rather than like it was in the League Cup final where everyone was saying how pretty we were and our style and how much we dominated the game.
“But we came away with nothing so over the course of the season, I think the players have more than enough in the bank in terms of praise and how well they have looked.
“But we are at a stage now going into the New Year where it is about results
.”
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