There was incredible hype around the Scottish League Cup final between Celtic and the Rangers this time around, and understandably so. On one hand, the Hoops had been close to perfect in domestic competitions all season, losing and drawing one game each. On the other hand, the Ibrox club had improved a lot since the arrival of Michael Beale as manager and matched their Glasgow rivals’ record over the past few months.
Beale’s side certainly seemed very confident heading into the final. So much so that some of Fashion Sakala’s comments raised a lot of eyebrows.
Ultimately, the game was not particularly close though. Celtic dominated in all departments for the majority of the game and the only reason that it ended 2-1 was because they could not take some pretty simple chances towards the end of the game. Otherwise, they could have easily put three or four past the Rangers, if not more.
Coming back to Sakala’s comments, Frank McAvennie was certainly not impressed by them. As reported by Football Insider, the former Celtic star said:
"“Sakala has got unbelievable talent and he should just keep it to the pitch. The older players should be telling him to shut up because they do not need any more pressure on them.“"
Celtic hero slams Rangers player for pre-match actions
It is hard to think of a positive that came out of the comments made by Sakala before the match. If it was an attempt at mind games, then it failed completely as Celtic were business as usual on the day.
On the other hand, the only thing that it did was put more pressure on the Rangers to perform on the day. And it would be pretty safe to say that their display at Hampden Park did leave a lot to be desired.
This was the Rangers’ first defeat under the management of Beale and it remains to be seen how they respond to the setback. On the other hand, Celtic cannot lose focus. They still have two more trophies to play for, including the league.