Celtic remain two points clear of Rangers at the top of the SPL table after the two sides played out a bore 0-0 draw at Celtic Park.
Neither side ever settled into a scrappy match where space and chances were at a premium.
There was only one significant chance in the first-half but it was a guilt-edged one as Scott McDonald somehow managed to glance a header wide from six yards out despite an absolutely perfect cross from the right from Old Firm debutant Willo Flood.
Celtic were the more ambitious side in the first-half, but with the exception of McDonald's effort, Rangers' well organised defence never looked like conceding.
As the match developed, the visitors gradually started to show a little more going forward and they came closest to breaking the deadlock in the second half.
Firstly, Stephen McManus nearly headed into his own net early in the second-half but Artur Boruc got him out of jail with a superb save after Madjid Bougherra's cross from the right had caused problems.
Boruc was again there to rescue the Bhoys 11 minutes from time when he tipped over a good powerful header from David Weir.
For Celtic, Shunsuke Nakamura had a late chance from a free-kick but Allan McGregor did enough to save despite spilling the ball.
In truth though, neither side did enough to win the match with the eight yellow cards saying as much about the type of match it was, as the lack of chances.
Rangers boss Walter Smith said his side had been poor in the first-half.
"I was far happier with our second-half performance compared to our first-half, which was one of the worst we have had away from home this season," Smith said.
"We were far brighter in the second-half but Artur Boruc was up to the chances we had."
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said his side had not taken the chances that fell to them in the first-half.
"There were very few chances in the first-half and we were not good enough to take those that fell to us," Strachan said.
"I would be far happier if we were five points clear but we don't have anyone else to blame but ourselves."
No comments:
Post a Comment