How Daizen Maeda and tireless Celtic front three set tone in a 'triumph for the collective'

Aaron Ramsey gave the home side the lead in the third minute before Tom Rogic and Cameron Carter-Vickers ensured the 700 away fans allowed into the game went home happy.

Several players stood out but, perhaps more in tune with Ange Postecoglou's philosophy, the triumph in Govan was more about the collective than the individual.

In what has been a rare sight this season, Postecoglou made no changes from the last time Celtic played with all 11 players who began against Ross County retaining their starting berths.

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some of the key StatsBomb data from a crucial game in the title run-in to give you a match report experience like no other.

xG/trendline

Celtic's cumulative xG of 1.84 stands above the home side's 0.89, while a quarter of that was Aaron Ramsey's third-minute opener.

The Welshman's goal was statistically the third-best chance of the game, with Liel Abada's 81st-minute attempt and Tom Rogic's goal the highest-rated. In wider context, Ramsey's goal was the only Rangers attempt in the game's top seven.

In terms of shots created, StatsBomb estimates Celtic would have won this game 61 per cent of the time.

Shots

Of Celtic's 11 attempts, eight were in the opposition box. Four of the 11 were on target, two were blocked with five missing the target.

Interestingly, Carter-Vickers' winner coming off the back of a set-play (in this instance an indirect free-kick) meant it is now five straight matches with a set-piece goal for the Hoops.

While Rangers did accumulate more shots, and got off five in close central areas, none bar Ramsey's goal were of decent quality.

Individually, Rogic was the most prolific shooter with four attempts, followed by Abada with two.

Possession, passing and positions

The overall pass network gives a flavour of how the Hoops set up, although it is slightly misleading in terms of the way it portrays the inter-changing wing play between Jota and Maeda. They did keep their width well despite the inference in the network average positions.

The deep red labels denote the more influential players while the thicker the passing lines the more link-up between the players. Unsurprisingly, Callum McGregor stands out at the centre of matters.

Rangers' attempt at swarming the Celtic build-up play is reflected in their average positions essentially being a 2-2-6. 

Celtic completed 281 of their 379 passes (a relatively poor 74 per cent pass completion rate) while registering 39 per cent possession. Individually, McGregor made the most open-play passes for Celtic with 40 (83 per cent competion) while he also topped the xGChain. The team's most common combinations were Starfelt to Carter-Vickers, Rogic to Jota and McGregor to Rogic.

In terms of key passes, four players registered one apiece: Maeda, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Jota and McGregor. All four key passes were from open play. Jota played the most passes into the opposition area with two as well as in crosses attempted, also with two, with Celtic throwing in just five overall.

Rangers, on the other hand, attempted 36 crosses (way above their average of around 21) but ultimately completed the same amount as they usually do with seven.

Rangers cross map v Celtic

Pressing

The left flank saw the most action in terms of pressing while Rangers' heatmap (below) reflects their intent to engage high up the pitch. 

That the Celtic forward trio of Giakoumakis (47), Maeda (46) and Jota (31) were the top three 'pressers' in the entire match reinforces the narrative that Postecoglou's defending starts from the front - a notion that holds true even, or perhaps especially, on a day when the Hoops did not experience the near-total dominance of play they are accustomed to in the Premiership.

Maeda's succesful pressures, duels, recoveries & other defensive actions map

The teams' counter-pressing heatmaps (below) suggest the home side targeted the Celtic left half-space - Starfelt's area - while Postecoglou's side were boundless in multiple areas across the pitch. Jota (seven), Giakoumakis (six), Maeda, Hatate and Taylor (all five) led the way in counter-pressures.
Rangers counter-pressing heatmap

Celtic counter-pressing heatmap

Defending

A separate section this week that stands in stark contrast to the Ross County game, during which only one Celt made two tackles and no player in green and white had to make more than one interception.

At Ibrox, Maeda made the most tackles (four) with Josip Juranovic recovering from a poor start to make a game-high six interceptions.

Juranovic's defensive actions map v Rangers

Special mention goes to Nir Bitton here - who racked up two tackles and five interceptions in his half-hour outing - as well as Taylor, whose pivotal and well-timed penalty-box tackle on Ryan Kent in the second half was one of three he made throughout the afternoon.

Carter-Vickers and Starfelt earned plaudits for their commitment to the cause at the time and the numbers back that up. The American registered three interceptions, 11 clearances and eight aerial wins with his partner coming away with four, 11 and seven in the same categories.