An anatomy of Rangers' 'unthinkable' Celtic concessions: Joe Aribo defence and disjointed backlines

Analysis of either goal vindicates the severity of his conclusion. Rangers wasted the fruits of their commanding start in two moments that will likely have a terminal effect on their title ambitions.

As detailed earlier by the Rangers Review, Celtic deserved all three points statistically. They enjoyed a greater quality of chance despite defending for much of the second period and once ahead, didn’t overplay at the back. This stunted the hosts’ game plan which appeared designed to capitalise on space in the final third and take advantage of transitions; both of which disappeared after Celtic earned a first-half lead.

Unlike the 3-0 defeat in February, Rangers were not outwitted tactically. They conceded sloppy goals in bad moments, the defining feature of their season.

Goal 1: Tom Rogic, 7 minutes

First, let’s look at the sequence of play that led to the equalising goal.

Moments after Ryan Kent misses the below opportunity, and Kemar Roofe’s cross evades Joe Aribo, Celtic break the press and have the chance to attack a disjointed Rangers rearguard. Reo Hatate’s initial pass, which takes out three players, isn’t pressurised with the necessary intensity.

The hosts recover in numbers but remain somewhat disjointed. Here, prior to Callum McGregor breaking the line, Leon Balogun has stepped forward to mark Rogic rather than passing responsibility onto John Lundstram. The backline is not organised and clearly exploitable. 

READ MORE: How Rangers destabilisation of Celtic fell apart and led to aimless attacks and 36 crosses

McGregor’s first touch takes him beyond Ramsey and while the Welshman could be accused of not fulfilling his man-marking responsibility, the frame below shows there was still a support structure in place to stop the Celtic captain.

However, Lundstram dives in needlessly and Bassey fails to narrow the angle, highlighted in red, to show McGregor outside. When he does catch him, the left-back would’ve been better placed making a tactical foul.

Again, look how disorganised the back four is as McGregor skips beyond Lundstram.

Rogic is free to take a shot by the time McGregor has hustled his way into the box. His first effort is saved before the ball falls to Hatate at the edge of the area.

Joe Aribo, slightly lethargic in his defensive recovery, makes no attempt to put the midfielder off, unlike Ramsey who flings himself at the right-footed drive.

Additionally, Allan McGregor has decreased the distance of the shot by coming a few yards off his line.

Goalkeeping expert John Harrison recently tweeted the below analysis when questioned on McGregor’s tendency to come off of his line in situations like the above. In this instance, it turns a 20-yard shot into a 16-yard shot.

Data suggests starting ~2yrds off the line is optimum.

Too deep & you have more ground to cover to get across the whole goal width.

Too high & you have no time to react & thus often cannot perform a power step dive.

The above tweets highlight the bad & the good.

— John Harrison (@Jhdharrison1) March 19, 2022

A review of StatsBomb’s goalkeeper freeze frame suggests the 40-year-old ought to have done better with a shot that had a post-shot xG rating of just 0.05. He is also not in an optimal position as demonstrated. 

Nonetheless, his defence has switched off. Balogun has been attracted to the ball, Bassey hasn’t adjusted to the movement of Rogic and the Australian can finish unopposed.

Goal 2: Cameron Carter-Vickers, 42 minutes

Celtic equalised from a third ball and took the lead from a second ball. Carter-Vickers finished clinically on his weaker left foot, but Rangers will bemoan numerous errors in the lead up to that moment.

READ MORE: If Rangers fail to avoid Celtic whitewash we have to face uncomfortable Giovanni van Bronckhorst truth - Four Lads

The initial free-kick was given away by Lundstram as he lunged into a tackle with Giorgos Giakoumakis.

Aribo has faced intense criticism since the game for ‘not tracking his man’ but on review, it appears he may have been instructed to block the run of Carl Starfelt rather than track him into the box.

How do we know this? His body position is facing forwards instead of side on, suggesting he is not preparing to run backwards, while Leon Balogun is not marking anyone.

The Nigerian wins the initial header but sends the ball back into the middle of the box. Lundstram arguably doesn’t cover himself in glory by not staying tight enough to Carter-Vickers.

The main frustration facing van Bronckhorst and his players when looking back at the defeat will be the cheap manner of these goals conceded. 

Celtic won the boxes and with that, most likely the league title.