WHEN Adam Idah struck in the 90th minute to fire Celtic to Scottish Cup glory, all the focus was on Jack Butland’s untimely error in the Rangers goal that gifted the striker the chance to score.
But a series of mistakes in the moments before the goal that won the Hoops the cup have gone somewhat unnoticed.
Indeed, Butland might never have had to make that save at all if things were different.
In the space of 20 seconds, Rangers went from building a promising attack to watching on as Celtic celebrated what proved to be the winning strike.
Mohamed Diomande had picked out Scott Wright in space just inside the Celtic half, finding a gap between Matt O’Riley and Nicolas Kuhn.
The pass was played into the Wright’s feet but he failed to properly control the ball and possession was surrendered, with Alistair Johnston recovering the ball at the back for the Hoops.
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On the sidelines, an exasperated Philippe Clement could be seen venting his frustration at the attacking midfielder’s poor touch, spinning around and wagging his fist in a fit of rage.
From there, Wright goes out to press Johnston but is unable to stop the full-back finding Callum McGregor in plenty of space in the centre of the park.
Diomande then rushes out to press McGregor despite having 10-15 yards to make up, and isn’t able to reach the Celtic captain in time before he is able to spin and find Daizen Maeda on the opposite side of the centre circle who in turn laid the ball off for Paulo Bernardo.
Not only could Diomande have held his position to restrict the space that followed for Bernardo, the Rangers front line of Rabbi Matondo, Abdallah Sima and Ross McCausland were all slow to react to Celtic’s quick transition from defence to attack.
With the Light Blues now on the back foot, midfielder Nicolas Raskin made a futile attempt to tackle Bernardo as he advanced into the Rangers half, sticking out a tired leg that the Portuguese playmaker was able to swerve.
Bernardo carries the ball 20 yards and isn’t closed down at any point by a member of the Gers back line.
With James Tavernier covering Maeda, Leon Balogun responsible for Idah and Ridvan Yilmaz goal-side of Matt O’Riley, as Bernardo approached the edge of the box there was a chance for spare man Ben Davies to step out and attempt to block the shot.
This doesn’t happen and it leads to the strike that was ultimately spilled by Butland into the path of Idah, who duly grabbed the opportunity.
Even at that, the Rangers players are all busy claiming for offside when the ball crosses the line, having failed to react first to Butland’s unlikely fumble.
Analysing the game for BBC‘s Sportscene highlights show, Celtic hero Peter Grant pointed out Wright’s role in the run-up to the decisive goal.
He said: “It’s a great pass from Diomande. Scott Wright’s got to take control.
“He’s taken up a fantastic position in a good area.”
Grant also noticed how Diomande had jumped out to press when he didn’t need to, and commended Bernardo for staying on his feet when the attempted tackle from Raskin came in.
He said: “Then you see Diomande goes in after it and he goes in too quick. You’ve given the ball away, fine, but hold your position.
“Bernardo does great (to stay on his feet), it’s easy to go to ground and claim for a free-kick.
“The movement is great (from Idah) when Bernardo drives to the box but I think one of the Rangers boys has got to step out and be a bigger shield to try and block it.
“Adam Idah’s the only one that keeps on moving and I think it was great play all around from a Celtic point of view but Rangers will be disappointed.”
Co-pundit and former Rangers, Celtic and Scotland striker Kenny Miller also spotted how Wright’s failure to control that initial pass from Diomande contributed to the break down of a promising Rangers attack and allowed Celtic to quickly counter.
He said: “It was a really interesting goal the way it came about. You see Scott Wright in a really strong position and it’s a really good pass from Diomande. Had he got that under control, Rangers might have found themselves in a situation going on a 4v4 attack on the back line.
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“It shows how quickly it can turn. A bit of miscontrol, a couple of good passes and all of a sudden the ball is in the back of the net.
“Ultimately, it’s the decisive moment in a cup final.”
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