Celtic’s colossal duo & pulverising press that blunted Rangers

A first-half header from Jota was enough to end the Ibrox side's Scottish Cup defence and set up a final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on June 3. 

With just three points from their last five league matches required to retain the title, and the League Cup already won, Ange Postecoglou’s team now stand on the brink of securing the club’s eighth domestic treble. 

Here, The Celtic Way highlights the key Wyscout data from the team's latest success over Rangers to give you a match report like no other.

xG dynamics 

The xG dynamics graphic above shows when both sides created their chances throughout yesterday’s match. 

The tense nature of the first half at the national stadium is highlighted with both sides creating very little in the opening period. 

Celtic’s first attempt at goal did not come until the 14th minute when captain Callum McGregor saw his shot from the edge of the box following a corner blocked. 

Alistair Johnston’s strike just before the half-hour mark was the Celts’ next effort on Allan McGregor’s goal with Jota also firing in on the angle just seconds later. Neither effort carried a particularly high xG value though. 

The final attempt of the half led to the decisive goal. Jota’s header, from Daizen Maeda’s fine cross, was statistically Celtic’s ‘best chance’ of the match (0.33 xG). 

For Rangers, Wyscout failed to register Nico Raskin’s effort in the opening seconds which was blocked by Cameron Cameron-Vickers. Perhaps, like most, their view was obscured by the smoke from the pre-match pyro displays! 

Even compensating for the exclusion of that, Rangers created nothing of note in the first 45 minutes according to Wyscout with their next attempt, and the first registered by the data provider, not coming until after half-time from substitute Fashion Sakala. 

With an xG of 0.50, the Zambian’s effort, which bounced off Joe Hart at close range before being brilliantly cleared by Carter-Vickers, was statistically the ‘best’ chance of the whole match. 

The attacker was responsible for another four of his side’s attempts in the second half, the best of which was when he lashed the ball into the side netting after James Tavernier’s shot came back off Hart’s post (0.21 xG). 

READ MORE: Celtic are lording it over Rangers as they look to make history

From that point on, the Ibrox side failed to create any other ‘big’ chances with Tavernier’s header on 71 minutes (0.14 xG) their highest-value chance of the last 20 minutes. 

With Rangers trailing, Celtic did not need to chase the game as much in the second period. Had Rangers managed to find an equaliser, the dynamics would likely have shifted. 

As it turned out, one goal, from one big chance, was all that was required. Even so, Celtic still failed to create any real quality chances for the remainder of the game. At just 0.08 xG, Maeda’s left-footed shot after nipping in front of Connor Goldson was the highest value chance of the second half for the Scottish champions.

Individually, Jota led the way for Celtic in xG terms, thanks to the high value of the opportunity for his goal. Starfelt came in second for his two-headed efforts in the second half while Kyogo was third for his two efforts, the best of which was the effort from just outside the box that forced McGregor into a save at his near post. 

Possession, passing & positions

The pass network gives a sense of where the game was played and who was most involved.

Celtic’s pass network is well structured as always with a return to a more obvious one-two shape in midfield after a few weeks of appearing more as two-one, due to Tomoki Iwata’s deeper starting positions. 

That was mostly down to the return of Reo Hatate, at Iwata’s expense, as the left-sided number eight. Hatate had a quiet game on his return though with most of Celtic’s play coming down the right side. 

The pass network shows Matt O’Riley’s influence on the game with the Dane more connected with Jota than Hatate was with Maeda on the other side of the pitch. 

This is further emphasised by the attacks by flank graphic which shows Celtic attacked twice as much down the right than they did down the left, or through central areas. 

Rangers' pass network shows their usual narrow shape in possession. Most of their possession was in deeper areas with their main attacking outlets, full-backs Tavernier and Borna Barasic, failing to have much impact going forward. Out of the two, only Tavernier managed three or more passes forward, to substitute Scott Arfield.

Rangers shaded the overall possession, 53 per cent to Celtic’s 47. Again, game state is the key context here with Beale’s side the one chasing the game for the whole of the second half. 

Key passes again highlight Rangers’ ineffective first half with all of their key passes coming in the second 45. 

For Celtic, Maeda and substitute Aaron Mooy led the way here with two each, both of the Australian's coming from corner kicks. 

Pressing and defending

Wyscout’s PPDA (Opponent passes per defensive action in the opponent's final 60 per cent of the pitch), used to qualify pressing intensity, is also revealing about Sunday’s showdown at Hampden. 

Celtic pressed much more intensely than their opponents in the first half with the Ibrox side allowing a large volume (26.3) of passes before making a defensive action in the middle of the opening period in particular.

READ MORE: Jota's header sends Celtic into a Hampden date with destiny

Consistent with their improved second-half showing, Rangers were much more intense in their pressing after the interval. Celtic were able to match them much more closely though, especially in the crucial final 15 minutes when they allowed their rivals the lowest number of passes before making a defensive action than at any other time in the match (5.2). 

Overall, Celtic only allowed 8.5 passes before making a defensive action, compared to Rangers slightly higher 10.6. 

Cameron Carter-Vickers' colossal display at the back is underlined in the basic defensive stats from the match. 

The USA international won 88 per cent of his aerial duels (seven out of eight contested) and won 75 per cent of his defensive duels too (three out of four contested). 

Although Carter-Vickers rightly picked up the Player of the Match award for his display, his defensive partner Carl Starfelt was also a standout in the backline. 

The Swede clocked the most aerial duel wins in the match, winning 10 of the 12 he contested. He also had a match-high number of interceptions (nine) and clearances (nine).