Celtic’s Scottish Cup elimination at the hands of the Rangers must have been a tough pill to swallow for the fans, as a Glasgow Derby defeat always is. The most disappointing aspect of the loss though was the manner of it, as the Hoops just did not look up for it on the day. They seemed uninspired, tired and out of ideas, while Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side appeared to want it more even though they had had to play 120 minutes of football just a few days back.
Celtic do not have too much time to ponder on what went wrong on the day though, as they have a Premiership campaign to navigate through still. As things stand, they are leading the title race by 6 points with 5 more league games to be played.
One player who has been a shining light for Celtic this season is Joe Hart, who has shown his quality with the gloves as well as a leader.
And the club’s number one between the posts sent a classy message to the supporters after the defeat at the hands of the Rangers. As reported by Football Scotland, Hart told Celtic TV:
"“We’re humble in victory and we will be humble in defeat.“At the end of the day, we have stuff to play for, we’ve got supporters to show up for, we’ve got a club to represent and just because we have lost this game that won’t change.”"
Hart sends classy message to Celtic fans after loss to Rangers
Hart will have more experience than most players in this squad of how to get a title charge over the line, having won the Premier League with Manchester City in the past.
As things stand, Celtic are definitely in the driver’s seat when it comes to the title race but at the same time, they cannot rest on their laurels.
We have already seen how quickly things can change in football and Celtic cannot afford to take even one misstep moving forward. They have some margin for error but it would be best if they win all five of their remaining games. But with a much better goal difference than the Rangers, even three wins could prove to be enough to crown them champions of Scotland.