5-star Celtic scored 4 goals in 12 minutes to clinch 7 championships in a row. A veritable numbers feast in the sun. Like that? You’re in the right place – read on.
Start Like You Mean It
Celtic have, so far, shown an ability to turn the form tap on and off at will throughout the domestic campaign. The cup competitions in particular have seen “game face”. But against the top domestic opposition, especially Aberdeen and The Rangers, Celtic have proven they can find the gears for the Autobahn whereas for most matches they’ve been pootling about in the 20 mile an hour zone. The Rangers were simply blown away in the first 15 minutes but emerged only 1 goal down. The xG chart after this period shows the dominance of the champions’ start:

Edouard’s goal capped a period of constant early pressure. By that time Celtic had 5 shots at goal. The Ibrox outfit had not completed a single pass. By the 10th minute, Celtic had 4 corners and 6 shots whilst The Rangers completed their 2nd pass. In the 12th minute they mounted their first attack. It took that long for the visitors to complete a forward pass that took out any Celtic players. The first attempt at goal from the visitors did not come until the 25th minute. Celtic started with an intensity lacking in many games this season. Up to the first goal, on 14 minutes, the Pack Passing graph shows Celtic dominance and ability to pass through their opponents. The Rangers reverted to a more open 4-2-3-1 with Windass shorn of defensive duties supporting Cummings:

The goal followed a cleared corner. Systemic defensive failure allowed Tierney to ease past Candeias whose body shape was all wrong to be able to aggressively defend. Normally following a corner, the defending side are set up deep and in numbers. Celtic kept bodies in the box, and the away side simply abnegated their duties. Having eased into the box, Tierney had any number of options for his trademark low cut back.

Calm Before the Storm
Having established a lead from a whirlwind start, what may not have been obvious in real-time, given the confidence and lack of jeopardy from the oppositions passive start, was that the next 27 minutes were almost even. Between the 14th minute and the 41st, The Rangers enjoyed relative parity. Although only creating one good quality chance, for Holt from Murphy’s clever angled pass, they at least stopped the bleeding and began to pass through the Hoops.

Not much happenin’

Relative Parity
Poultice applied, and a foothold established. The visitors then conspired to surrender, not so much the initiative, they never had that, but the hard-won margins of the preceding 27 minutes.
Manufactured Storm
The second goal was achingly simple from a Light Blues perspective. The home side are vicious on the counter attack and teams in Scotland largely mitigate this through avoidance. That is, they play so deep as to not allow Celtic to break quickly. Celtic have scored 23 goals from fast breaks from 82 resulting attempts. When The Rangers lose the ball in the Celtic half, it really isn’t a position from which a concession should follow.

Celtic, apart from that assertive opening 14 minutes, had done little to be 2-0 up, but it got worse for Murty’s marauders. The decision to station Halliday at left back allowed Forrest license to attack at will. Halliday is barely a competent midfielder lacking pace, strength and positional capabilities. As a left back, against a direct and pacey opponent, it was open season. The home fans worshipped him mercilessly. As the half drew to a close, the Celtic press again forced The Rangers to cough up possession after possession. Forrest picked the ball up wide right. A professional team is not thinking about conceding from here.

The ball never deviates from Forrest’s right foot. He did not even have to change direction or shift the ball as the defence parted. Abject defending does not begin to describe it. But for Forrest, a deserved and long-awaited Derby goal. Essentially, at 3-0, it was game over and the 7 in a row celebration could begin.
Minimum Effort, Maximum Reward
Only against Dundee have Celtic completed less passes (299) than they did here with 307. Their 82% open play pass completion is the lowest of the season. Celtic’s overall Possession Effectiveness Index (PEI%) which measures every action and whether Celtic maintain possession or not was 79%. That was the same as in the 0-5 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. An exemplar of Rodgers possession-based framework this was not. And yet. 17% of Celtic passes took out at least one opponent. Only at home to Linfield has this been higher. The xG of 4.174 has only been bettered in the same game against the Belfast Albion Rovers. The 13 shots on target is a season high. 18 of Celtic’s shots were from inside the box. Yep, only Linfield again beats that, by 1. Celtic took possession in the box 37 times. Only Linfield (you get the drift), Ross County, Brechin City and Greenock Morton had given up more. Only against (yawn) Linfield at home and St Johnstone in the 1-1 game had Celtic created better chances. The xA was 3.311. Alnwick made 8 saves, which is bettered only by Mannus of St Johnstone and……..Carroll of Linfield. There must be some connection here? Defensively, the away side were dreadful, and Celtic had the luxury of knowing they could dominate possession to a far greater extent than here. How easy they made it for the champions.
Top Bhoys
For the following section, the Glossary is what you need beside you in the trenches of a Derby. The Bhoy of the Match was as difficult as you may imagine. Going through the team, the key performer at the back was Boyata. Whatever he had for breakfast, he seemed to have it in for Cummings, closing him down and going through him (legitimately) at every opportunity. Boyata’s style of proactive front foot defending was particularly effective against the floppy haired English Championship prospect.

Boyata’s DASR% was easily the team high. His Pass Impect of 41 was behind only Ntcham (season leader) and Lustig. This is rare for the Belgian who usually plays it safe with his passing. His pass completion % of 84% is very low showing he played a more expansive game. His assist was the result of a high press on Cummings resulting in Forrest’s solo goal. At the sharp end, the stadium Man of the Match was French Eddie. The developing Edouard is often more effective beside another striker, but here played the attacking pivot role to perfection before succumbing to cramp.

Ntcham had the highest Total Impect of 103, which is high (Ntcham averages 83), and Edouard was 3rd behind McGregor but did not play the 90 minutes. His Receive Impect of 71 must be seen in context of the season leader Rogic on a 61 average. A CAT Score of 8 is not particularly high – Sinclair leads this on 9.989 average for the season. But productivity of 2 goals and 1 assist shows maximum efficiency. Great performances but my Bhoy of the Match is:

He led the team in overall Expected Scoring Contribution, CAT Score, Possessions In The Box, Shots In The Box and Chances Created. Hugely entertaining performance against the hapless Halliday. Enjoy these times.