On page one of the managerial handbook is written the instruction that all players must follow first and above all else: win your battle. And there is no doubt that it was Celtic who won most of the individual duels on the day at Hampden to progress to the Scottish Cup final with relative ease.
Here, we take a look at some of the key individual contests that resulted in Celtic’s serene passage amid the chaos of the national stadium to the season’s showpiece finale.
Moussa Dembele v Danny Wilson
Dembele getting a free header from a Sinclair corner within the first minute was a foreboding glimpse of what was to come, and the Celtic frontman got free again far too easily to set up the opener for Callum McGregor, peeling off the back of Wilson to control and lay perfectly into the midfielder’s path.
The striker pulled his right hamstring just before the half hour and had to limp off, which must have come as a merciful relief to the bedraggled Wilson. Until he saw Leigh Griffiths coming on to replace the young Frenchman, that is.
Scott Brown v Kenny Miller
An unlikely match-up, but with the Rangers captain deployed in midfield he came up against his counterpart in the Hoops, and it was the Celtic man’s greater experience in the role that won the day.
Brown controlled the midfield area, biting into tackles, reading the game with ease and showing composure on the ball, fully justifying his club’s tactical appeal against his red card at Ross County last weekend.
Miller just couldn’t get on the ball enough to influence the game for his side, but he did bring two saves from Craig Gordon with a free header and a side-foot shot, then put a lob just over when he was pushed into a more advanced area where he is clearly more comfortable.
Read more: Celtic on the brink of an historic domestic treble and period of unprecedented dominance
Which begs the question, what was he doing near midfield in the first place?
Brown collected the man of the match award to underline his dominance.
Patrick Roberts v Myles Beerman
Roberts clearly fancied himself against the young Maltese full-back, and Andy Halliday picked up a booking in the opening stages coming over to cover and being forced into a foul. The youngster then picked up a booking of his own as his frustration boiled over, and the punishment might have been worse as he lunged in recklessly on the Manchester City loanee.
Roberts drew another foul from him moments later in a dangerous position, and one way or another it didn’t look as though Beerman would last the 90. The young man deserves credit for hanging in there, and it was a day that may prove invaluable to him as he was dealt a footballing lesson from Roberts, who took a breather for the last 10 minutes.
Jozo Simunovic v Martyn Waghorn
The Rangers forward was almost entirely anonymous in the first half along with strike partner Joe Garner as Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata dominated, but he survived Pedro Caixinha’s half-time cull to influence proceedings a little more after the break.
Simunovic was slack on a couple of occasions to give Waghorn some decent of sights of goal, but the forward’s blushes were spared by a late flag from the assistant referee after slicing one high and wide when clean through, and then he let Simunovic off the hook when he put a free header miles over the bar.
Kieran Tierney v James Tavernier
The battle between the two opposing and offensively-minded full-backs was set up to be an intriguing battle, but in truth, the young Celtic left-back dominated his side of the pitch almost entirely in the early stages. Tierney spent most of the first-half in Rangers territory, and although Tavernier tried to push on when he could as the game wore on, it was Tierney who looked the most likely to create something for his side.
Read more: Celtic on the brink of an historic domestic treble and period of unprecedented dominance
Joe Dodoo was pushed over to the Rangers right to give his teammate a hand late on which pushed Tierney a little further back, and Tavernier took advantage to get one or two decent balls in. By that time though, the game was gone.
Callum McGregor v Jason Holt
One of McGregor’s best performances in a Celtic jersey, and not just for his brilliantly-taken opener, when he ran off the Rangers midfield and produced a wonderfully composed finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The Celtic man was always a step ahead of Holt, and indeed Andy Halliday before he was taken off at half-time, and as a result, Rangers were unable to really get any meaningful possession in the middle of the park.
McGregor was given a well-earned rest with a little over a quarter of an hour to go, and Holt would have been glad to have seen the back of the hard-working midfielder's perpetual motion.
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