To be very honest, Celtic just could not get things going against the Rangers at Hampden Park. Although they were still close to a victory, leading till the 78th minute of the game, and questions must be raised about Bobby Madden’s refereeing on the day as well, ultimately, it was not a performance from the Hoops that warranted a win.
This simply did not look like the side that had played the Rangers off the park at Parkhead back in February or the one that had gotten a gritty win at Ibrox earlier this month. Instead, it looked like a Celtic team that seemed lethargic and reminded fans of last season.
Of course, there is not one single reason for the defeat and the Hoops do not have much time to ponder on this result, with the Premiership title still pretty much up for grabs.
Chris Sutton believes that the team ended up missing Giorgos Giakoumakis on the day though and his physicality up front. The former Celtic star tweeted out:
"“Rangers the better team today and deserved to win. Celtic were poor today ,missed big George and his physicality to get the team up the pitch. Bigger picture is that Ange Postecoglou has done a great job this season and the team need one big final push to win the league.”"
Was the absence of Giakoumakis the big factor in Celtic’s defeat vs Rangers?
In the first half of the season, most fans had written Giakoumakis off as a transfer mistake as he struggled for both form and fitness.
The Greek striker has completely turned it around in the second half of the season though and looks like a completely different player now. He has found the back of the net on a consistent basis and also lead the line tremendously well for the Hoops since the turn of the year.
He ended up missing the Scottish Cup semi-final against the Rangers though after suffering an injury last weekend against St Johnstone.
He was certainly a key miss for the Hoops, as they do not have a back-up option similar to him at the moment. And Daizen Maeda has never quite looked comfortable leading the line on his own since arriving at Parkhead in January.