The Times - UK (2022-05-02)

the times | Monday May 2 2022 2GG 13

thegame

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP

PW D L F A GD Pts

Celtic...........................35 27 5 3 81 20 61 86

Rangers......................35 24 8 3 71 2942 80

Hearts......................... 35 17 10 8 51 35 16 61

Dundee United........ 35 11 11 13 34 40 -6 44

Ross County.............35 10 11 14 45 54 -9 41

Motherwell...............35 10 1015 39 54-15 40

Livingston.................35 12 8 153844 -644

Hibernian...................35 10 11 14 32 38 -6 41

Aberdeen..................35 10 9 16 40 44 -4 39

St Mirren.................... 35 9 12 14 31 51 -20 39

St Johnstone............ 35 7 1018 22 46 -24 31

Dundee....................... 35 5 11 19 30 59 -29 26

struggled to get going. In truth the

sides were cancelling each other out

with industry, tackling and closing

down across the pitch.

Jota’s goal arrived from Celtic’s first

significant attack. It empowered them

and their moves became more fluid

and menacing as their passes began to

connect, while the likes of Arfield and

Sakala struggled. Hatate lifted a ball

across and behind the Rangers back

line for Jota to meet with a diving

header just over the bar.

When Celtic’s pressing then

dispossessed Rangers it was Jota who

floated one for Maeda. It invited a

header but he feared being clattered

by Allan McGregor and went for it

without conviction. Celtic should

have had the game — and the title —

done and dusted. When Hatate was

allowed to run freely towards the

Rangers box his pass to O’Riley was

touched on to play in Maeda, who

shot over, although he was offside.

Celtic were defending comfortably

until a sequence of substitutions

shuffled the pack and Rangers rallied.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst did not

significantly weaken his team with

Thursday’s Europa League semi-final

against RB Leipzig in mind. It was a

team picked to win. In the second half

he replaced Davis and Joe Aribo with

Ryan Jack and Scott Wright. Rangers

built a neat move through Wright and

Arfield before Sakala exchanged a

one-two with Kent. That gave Sakala

the space to get away a low shot

which flashed just inside Joe Hart’s

right-hand post. Soon Sakala was

wrestling off Cameron Carter-Vickers

to release another shot Hart had

to touch over, and then he was

squandering a huge chance by hitting

the foot of the post when through

one-on-one. Hart also pulled off a

great reaction save to deny Arfield.

Celtic looked leggy and for the

second Old Firm game in a fortnight

they failed to see it out. They seemed

jumpy about Rangers from the

moment they equalised.

The draw was cheered by both sets

of fans, neither one prepared to give

the enemy the pleasure of looking

deflated. Minutes later there were

angry exchanges and missile-throwing

between the Rangers section and the

Celtic fans nearest them before the

stadium cleared. The Carpenters’

soothing influence did not last long.

Rangers needed Ryan Kent to bury

a comparable opening a few minutes

earlier when James Tavernier fired it

over to him, but Kent could only send

a glancing connection wide of the

back post.

Rangers started well, imposing

themselves on the game and initially

choking Celtic’s midfield. Out of

possession John Lundstram was on

Reo Hatate and Steven Davis policed

Matt O’Riley, with Scott Arfield

further up to frustrate Callum

McGregor. The Celtic captain hit

three early passes straight to Rangers

players. Kent tried a run and shot, too

straight at Joe Hart, in another sign of

their early encouragement as Celtic

What else but the soothing tones of
the Carpenters to ring around
Parkhead after the blood and thunder
of an Old Firm draw which eased
Celtic closer to reclaiming the league
title? Karen Carpenter’s lyrics were
not about being on top of the league,
looking down on Rangers, but about
59,000 Celtic fans altered them to
exactly that as they insisted on
celebrating their supremacy.
Taking over as officially the best in
the country is now only a matter of
when, not if, even if they were denied
the victory which would have
confirmed that the cinch Premiership
is heading their way for the tenth
time in 11 years. They can beat Hearts
at Parkhead on Saturday to make it
official, but Rangers know it is over.
Jota’s early goal had Celtic on their
way but for the third Old Firm game
running the team who scored first
were unable to go on and win.
Rangers had to win to claw the gap

Celtic made to

wait for crown

as Sakala spoils

their title party

down to three points and failure

means they surrender the title, but

they took something from going

down with a fight. Their character

and determination showed again

when Fashion Sakala rewarded a

strong second half with a deserved

equaliser. The derby took a while to

get going but was eventually filled

with incidents and spectacle. Sakala

got through again to hit the post with

a late chance.

As champions-elect, Celtic remain

unbeaten in 29 league games since

September. This was only the fourth

time they had dropped points in the

past seven months but they missed

opportunities to build on Jota’s lead

and then looked jaded and hesitant in

allowing Rangers to come back at

them. The 800 Rangers fans defiantly

celebrated their team’s character and

determination. Poor individual

performances had threatened to

condemn them to a derby defeat in

the league for the third time in a row.

Instead the season’s fifth and final Old

Firm game — two wins each and a

draw — showed how little there is

between the sides at their best.

Borna Barisic knows what can

happen if a left back switches off at

the back post when a cross is whipped

in from Celtic’s other wing: he did it

when Rangers were here in February

and Liel Abada ghosted past him to

score. Barisic was lambasted for that

and must be again for Celtic’s opener.

Daizen Maeda’s quick feet and

movement allowed him to spin past

Connor Goldson and whip a ball

across the goalmouth. Barisic was

slow to react and then tried to swipe

at the ball with his left foot when the

angle better suited his right, allowing

Jota to race on to it and score. Barisic

had to hang his head for it but the

cross beat Calvin Bassey too and

Jota’s finish, with the outside of his

right boot, was high quality.

1

Jota 21

RATINGS

Celtic (4-3-3): J Hart 7 — A Ralston 6,

C Carter-Vickers 7, C Starfelt 7, G Taylor 7 —

M O’Riley 7 (T Rogic 61min, 6), C McGregor 7,

R Hatate 7 (N Bitton 61, 7) — Jota 8,

K Furuhashi 7 (G Giakoumakis 61, 6), D Maeda 7

(L Abada 77). Booked Ralston, Bitton,

Giakoumakis.

Rangers (4-2-1-3): A McGregor 6 — J Tavernier 7,

C Goldson 6, C Bassey 7, B Barisic 5 — S Davis 6

(R Jack 62, 6), J Lundstram 7 — J Aribo 6

(S Wright 62, 7) — S Arfield 5 (A Diallo 87),

F Sakala 7, R Kent 6. Booked Barisic, Kent, Diallo,

Goldson.

Referee J Beaton.

Attendance 59,000.

Celtic Rangers

1

Sakala 67

Sakala struck

in the 67th

minute to

deny Celtic

the chance to

seal the title

MICHAEL GRANT

Ji has helped Chelsea to become a

leading force in the European game

Jonas Eidevall, the Arsenal manager,
still feels a sense of unfairness as the
title race reaches its conclusion. With
a 7-0 victory over Aston Villa, his side
moved back to within a point of
Chelsea, who later re-established
their four-point lead with a 1-0 win
over Birmingham City. The title race
remains firmly in the hands of Emma
Hayes’s side, who are favourites to
win a third consecutive WSL crown.
In reality, the title was lost by
Arsenal in the 2-0 defeat by a
relegation-bound Birmingham on
January 9. Eidevall believes it was
unfair that Chelsea had two matches
postponed that month, while Arsenal

continued to play, despite Covid cases

at the club and having lost four

players to the Asia Cup.

“I didn’t focus on Chelsea when

they were rearranging their fixtures

in January so that Sam Kerr didn’t

have to miss games because of the

Asia Cup, and I don’t focus on

them now,” Eidevall said.

When asked

whether he

regretted not

getting the

Birmingham

game

postponed, he said: “No. We

should play matches. When

you are a football club, it is

your business. It’s the league that

should change.”

Yesterday’s win was marred by an

injury to Jordan Nobbs, who was

substituted just 12 minutes after

coming on. She applauded the

Arsenal fans as she departed,

amid rumours it could be her final

season at the club. The European

Championship begins in just over two

months, moreover, and an injury

could rule out the Englishwoman.

JI SAYS GOODBYE TO WSL

It was announced on Friday that

Ji So-yun will depart Chelsea

at the end of the season,

and return to her

homeland, South Korea.

When I asked Hayes, her

manager, about the

importance of the

midfielder during

the past year, she

replied: “What a

talent. Over the time

the WSL has been in existence, she

has by far and away been the most

influential player.”

Ji, 31, has scored 68 goals in 208

matches since joining the club in 2014

— an impressive enough statistic

without taking into consideration that

over that period Chelsea have been

transformed from a part-time side into

one of the best teams in the world,

with the skilful South Korean at the

heart of the project. It will perhaps

only be in her departure that we will

understand how crucial she was, with

the ability for an eye-catching goal and

her low centre of gravity helping her to

dance through defences, coupled with

a personality that preferred to shine

away from the spotlight.

THE GREATEST ESCAPE

On the final day of the Championship

season, Coventry United’s miraculous

bid for a great escape had a fitting

ending, with a stunning 96th-minute

free kick from Mollie Green securing

a 1-0 victory over Watford — a goal

that kept Coventry up and sent their

opponents down. United were eight

minutes from liquidation in January

before being saved by the

businessman Lewis Taylor.

But his intervention did not spell

the end of the turmoil at the club,

having received a ten-point deduction

because they had triggered an

“insolvency event”. Taylor’s appeal

was rejected by the FA.

BIGGEST CROWD OF SEASON

Newcastle United, of the fourth tier,

made their debut at St James’ Park

and attracted the biggest crowd for a

women’s league match this season.

There were 22,134 supporters as

United, who are second in National

League Division One North but

cannot be promoted, beat Alnwick

Town 4-0. “It’s such a fantastic

experience,” the head coach Becky

Langley said. “Everyone came

together as a city and Newcastle fans

have done the whole club proud.”

Eidevall’s sense of injustice grows as Chelsea edge towards the title

MOLLY

HUDSON

Spotlight on the WSL

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