Michael Beale would have surely been hoping that his Rangers side were on the way to victory after they took a 2-1 lead against Celtic at Ibrox. But Ange Postecoglou’s team showed their character once again and equalised in the 88th minute through Kyogo Furuhashi, in order to make sure that they stayed nine points ahead of their Glasgow rivals.
With 18 more games left to be played in the Premiership, this was a huge result for Celtic in the title race. On the other hand, the Rangers could not make the most of one of their Glasgow Derbies at home, even with the Hoops not performing at their best.
Postecoglou had made some big calls on the day, namely starting James Forrest and giving Alistair Johnston his debut in the Glasgow Derby. Ultimately, the manager should be satisfied with the result if not happy.
On the other hand, Beale seems to have conceded that it is Celtic’s title race to lose from here. As reported by BBC, the Rangers boss said on BBC Scotland after the Glasgow Derby:
"“There’s 18 games to play. There’s two more derbies, two more Old Firms to play.“But in between that there’s a lot of tricky ties. If we keep winning, something can happen. There’s a lot of football to play. But we have to keep winning and keep improving. At the moment, it will be theirs to throw away.”"
Beale makes title admission after Celtic and Rangers draw at Ibrox
It would be safe to say that Celtic are pretty much in the driver’s seat as things stand. In fact, they could have ended the title race for all intents and purposes at Ibrox.
They were the much better team early on as well but an injury to Greg Taylor appeared to turn the tide of the tie. Josip Juranovic was brought on as his substitute, but after a stunning World Cup run, he was disappointing on the day and seemed a bit lost, which is unlike him.
On the other hand though, one could argue that Celtic were denied a penalty that they deserved, as the controversy surrounding VAR in Scotland continues to rumble on.