Celtic 1 Rangers 1:CELTIC'S INEPTITUDE in front of goal may prove as much a source of regret to Steve Conroy this morning as to the Parkhead manager Tony Mowbray.
Conroy became the latest referee to become embroiled in a controversy which seldom fails to provide an Old Firm talking point. There was nothing wrong with the “goal” scored by Celtic’s Marc-Antoine Fortune 19 minutes into this meeting between the top two yet the official disallowed it for an apparent foul by the striker on Allan McGregor.
Even taking into account that goalkeepers are now a more protected species than the panda, McGregor was afforded a major break.
However, to the Celtic manager’s credit, he refused to pinpoint Conroy’s error as pivotal. “I haven’t seen the incident again,” he said. “The referee makes decisions and we abide by them.”
In private, Mowbray will doubtless be haunted by his side’s continued wastefulness in front of goal just as much as any dubious peep from a referee’s whistle.
Lack of goals undermined Celtic’s bid to win the title last season; yesterday the home side were so dominant that Lee McCulloch likened the game to that night in Paris in 2007. On the Rangers midfielder’s admission France had “battered” a Scotland team who somehow emerged with a 1-0 victory on that occasion.
“We are delighted to get a point that we probably didn’t deserve,” added the Rangers manager Walter Smith. “We got something out of a game we didn’t really put anything into, in an attacking sense.”
To balance the shanked shots at goal, misplaced tackles and niggling fouls which one would expect to be on display at any third division match, there was a single moment of brilliance. McGregor clawed away a swerving and deflected shot from Georgios Samaras five minutes from time and which had it gone in would surely have ensured a Celtic victory.
The fact that the three points did not eventually arrive will presumably increase Mowbray’s anxiety to freshen up his squad this month. A team who fail to endorse territorial dominance with goals will not win titles.
Rangers’ subdued showing must be explained in part by the absence of two key players, Kenny Miller and Madjid Bougherra. They should also have been without Kyle Lafferty before half-time, the striker somehow escaping a red card for a wild lunge on Andreas Hinkel.
Lafferty’s actions typified his team’s frustration. Fortune’s effort aside, Celtic had come close with headers from Barry Robson, who hit the crossbar, and Aiden McGeady. Samaras also shot wide when sent clean through two minutes before the interval; McGeady passed up another opportunity before the Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc was called into his first action, after more than an hour.
In an intriguing subplot, Mowbray sent for a grumpy Scott McDonald. The Australian striker, surprisingly left among the substitutes at kick-off, made his point with a goal after stooping to meet a McGeady cross.
Onlookers who sensed that should have been that had forgotten Celtic’s regular inability to defend basic situations. McCulloch rose to connect with a Steve Davis corner, ensuring Rangers remain seven points clear in this championship race and leaving the home support to vent their anger towards Conroy. Some of it, however, should be reserved for their own wasteful players.
