Celtic earned the bragging rights in the Glasgow Derby once again, as they brushed aside Rangers 3-0 to go five points clear of their rivals at a packed Celtic Park.

The visitors started the game well and pressed Brendan Rodgers’ side with purpose, though it would not last. Kyogo Furuhashi would get on the end of a fantastic counter-attacking move in transition, though Nicolas Kuhn was judged to have been offside in the build-up by VAR following the Japan striker’s finish.

A little over five minutes later, Celtic did score a legal opener through Daizen Maeda, who profited off of good work by Paulo Bernardo and Alistair Johnston in the lead-up to the winger’s finish. Kyogo would eventually get on the scoresheet from distance, catching Jack Butland out in the Rangers goal by essentially passing the ball into his net from 30 yards out. Callum McGregor would complete the scoring after the restart with a deflected strike from range, which left Butland with no chance of keeping the shot out. Admittedly, it could – and probably should - have been more on the day.

Using StatsBomb data, analytics and graphics, The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay brings you a match report like no other…

Match stats + race chart

Looking at the statistics from yesterday’s game, you would think – on paper – that it was a close game between the sides at Celtic Park. The home side registered their lowest possession stat of the season with ‘just’ 53 per cent to Rangers’ 47, whilst they attempted 576 passes – completed 473 – at a success rate of 82 per cent. Three of Celtic’s four shots on targets led to goals, outperforming their 2.04 xG by a little under one goal.

The race chart for yesterday’s derby highlights the closeness in the opening stage, though that was short-lived once Maeda’s goal hit the back of the net. Despite Rangers threatening with chances, Celtic pulled away thanks to Kyogo’s strike, the proverbial ‘dagger’ in the contest when the Japan striker converted the long-range chance. 

StatsBomb – analysing the xG for both teams – gave Celtic a 58 per cent chance of winning this game, with 18 per cent for the visitors. A draw was the next most likely outcome according to the data provider at 24 per cent. 

Formation + passing

Strangely, StatsBomb had Celtic lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation for yesterday’s match, as Kasper Schmeichel started his first Glasgow Derby. Johnston and Greg Taylor occupied each full-back area, whilst Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales were planted in the middle as centre-backs. McGregor played at the base alongside Bernardo, as Reo Hatate played as the furthest-forward middle-man for his side. Maeda and Kuhn supported Kyogo up front on the wings, as Arne Engels, Auston Trusty, Alex Valle and Luke McCowan all featured on the bench of their new club for the first time.

The pass network takes into account OBV (on ball values) to judge who had an effective game – or not – in match proceedings. From this graphic, it is clear to see who was the standout versus Rangers, and not for the first time, either.

Indeed, Johnston’s red colouring indicates that he had an effective game in possession, which the in-person eye test backed up when observing the player. 0.29 OBV for his 43 passes was the highest for Celtic, followed by Carter-Vickers and Maeda. Hatate had the lowest OBV with -0.15, followed by Taylor, McGregor and Bernardo.

Focusing on key passes, Johnston and Kuhn had the most for Celtic with three each on the right side of the park – an area that is looking stronger by the game. Maeda and Bernardo had two, whilst Hatate had one. 

Shooting

Celtic had 14 shots in this game, with four being on target, resulting in three goals for the home side. Their shot map is not as busy as it has been in other games, yet they did endeavour to work the ball into the box more than usual. Despite this, they scored two goals from well outside the penalty box, with five of their strikes blocked by the Rangers defenders.

Not for the first time, Maeda had to have his say on Glasgow Derby day. Following great work by Bernardo via a chipped pass and Johnston’s cut-back on the right, the cross was missed by Rangers’ Robin Propper and fell to Maeda, who struck the ball neatly past Butland, whose save wasn’t enough to keep the venomous shot out. 0.41 to 0.91 in xG to PSxG, this was a chance that Maeda had to tuck away – thankfully, he did.

Kyogo – not deterred by his chopped-off goal earlier on in the half, decided to take matters into his own hands with his first goal of the season. After being passed the ball by Taylor following slack play by Connor Barron, the striker spotted Butland a little too far to his right-hand post and passed the ball with pace into the England international’s left side. A great goal from Kyogo, but a suspect concession by Butland – not the first time these words have been uttered versus Celtic, admittedly. 0.04 to 0.26 concerning xG for this one, a tough shot that paid off for Celtic’s main man up front.

McGregor’s goal was a screamer on first viewing – especially live – though it was helped by a wicked deflection from Dujon Sterling’s outstretched leg. Still, a magnificent shot and conversion from the skipper, who has three goals from outside the box in his last three league games – quite the occurrence! 0.03 to 0.32 displays the toughness of this chance, which benefitted from that Sterling touch to make sure it ended up in the back of Butland’s net for the third time.

Despite playing on the left wing, Maeda managed four shots for Celtic, scoring one goal. Kyogo scored one of his three chances, as James Forrest and Reo Hatate had two to their name. McGregor’s one shot was his goal from range.

Pressing + defending

As expected, Rangers outpressured Celtic due to having less of the ball at a rate of 212-145. Despite this, Celtic regained the ball via pressures more than their opponents at a rate of 33-31. It was a team effort from Celtic, as Maeda led the way for pressures with 24, closely followed by Kyogo and Kuhn with 20. McGregor and Hatate had 18 and 15 respectively. For counterpressures, Kuhn led the way with six, whilst Hatate, Maeda and McGregor had four to their name each.

Celtic’s full-backs led the way with combined tackles and interceptions with seven each – a combined total of 14 as both excelled versus Rangers. Bernardo was not far behind with six combined, whilst Kuhn and Maeda each had five too. All of Celtic’s starting wide players contributed 24 total tackles and interceptions – quite the effort on the defensive end.

In other defensive metrics, Scales had five clearances and four aerial wins in total, in what was his best game thus far in a Celtic jersey. Back on form after a wobble recently, Carter-Vickers had six of his own clearances and aerial wins combined – a good day at the office for Rodgers’ backline.