Celtic secured the first piece of silverware of the Scottish campaign with a win on penalties in the League Cup final at Hampden Park on Sunday.
The Hoops won 5-4 on penalties against their Glasgow rivals after an entertaining, for the neutral, 3-3 draw in regulation time, to win the competition for the first time since Brendan Rodgers returned to the club last summer.
They were twice pegged back by Rangers after going 2-1 and 3-2 up but kept their cool and ended up being perfect from the spot, scoring all five penalties.
The Gers won the competition, beating Aberdeen 1-0 in the final, last year after the Bhoys had been knocked out by Kilmarnock, and they were unable to defend their crown.
It was far from a perfect showing from the Scottish Premiership champions, given that they conceded three times and had to take the match to penalties.
However, there were a number of strong performers on the park for Celtic in the match, as a few of Rodgers’ star players stepped it up on the big stage.
Celtic's top performers against Rangers
Despite letting in three goals, veteran goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was fantastic between the sticks for the Scottish giants with several important stops, and could do little about the goals that were conceded.
The Denmark international, of course, had the telling moment in the match with his brilliant low save from Ridvan Yilmaz’s penalty to provide Daizen Maeda with the opportunity to win the game in the shoot-out.
Summer signing Arne Engels came off the bench to contribute to the victory with an assist for the third goal for Celtic, cutting the ball back to Nicolas Kuhn for the forward to score, before coolly converting from the spot in the penalties.
Maeda and Kuhn, the scorers of the second and third goals, were also impressive on the flanks, with the former brilliantly winning the ball back before racing through to score, as well as finding the back of the net from the penalty spot to win the trophy.
Kuhn’s goal was also superb as the German forward raced down the wing to lay the ball off to Engels before positioning himself perfectly inside the box to finish brilliantly.
However, there were also some players who struggled to showcase the best of their abilities, and one of those was Greg Taylor – despite his goal.
Why Greg Taylor may have secured his departure
The Scotland international was at fault for the opening goal in the match as it was his dreadful pass in the middle of the pitch that went straight to Nedim Bajrami, who eventually scored after Hamza Igamane’s shot was parried out to him in the box.
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BBC Scotland reporter Martin Dowden described it as a “mindless” mistake from the former Kilmarnock man, as his decision to play the ball towards Cameron Carter-Vickers when Igamane and Bajrami were in position to intercept could not be explained.
The 27-year-old earned a player rating of 5/10 from the Daily Record, who wrote that his sloppy passing let the team down, and that the lightweight looked ‘off the pace’ down the left flank.
Taylor did, however, find the back of the net with an equaliser but it was a deflected, low, effort from the edge of the box that may not have caused Jack Butland many problems had it not come off Robin Propper’s boot.
Popular account ‘Everything Celtic’ on X posted that the full-back “just secured his departure” as he “hasn’t been good enough for Celtic for a long time”, adding that they hope the defender is moved on by the end of the January transfer window.
The experienced full-back’s current contract with Celtic is due to expire in the summer of 2025, and this means that he can speak to teams from abroad next month to secure a pre-contract deal elsewhere.
Why Celtic should cash in on Greg Taylor
With this in mind, Rodgers must ruthlessly cash in on the Scottish dud when the January transfer window opens for business, to avoid losing him for nothing next summer.
Taylor can leave on a free transfer at the end of the season and this means that next month’s window is the club’s last chance to rake in a fee, albeit a potentially small one with his deal running down, if there are any sides interested in a swoop for him ahead of the second half of the season.
He has been a fantastic servant for the Hoops over the years, with 194 appearances in all competitions to date, but his departure would open the door for another player to get an opportunity in the left-back spot.
Celtic already have a young talent in the squad in Barcelona loanee Alex Valle and the Spanish dynamo could step up to be the first-choice left-back in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.
His performances in the Premiership in his limited minutes on the pitch this term have been impressive, and he could potentially be an upgrade on Taylor.
Appearances
12
6
Dribbled past per game
0.6x
0.3x
Ground duels won per game
3.1
3.5
Aerial duels won per game
1.6
1.8
Aerial duel success rate
40%
48%
Assists per game
0.3
0.3
As you can see in the table above, the Scottish dud has been dribbled past twice as much on average per game in comparison to his Spanish teammate, which shows that forwards have far more joy in one-on-one battles against him.
They offer a similar threat at the top end of the pitch, with two assists in six games for Valle and four assists in 12 outings for Taylor, but the Barcelona loanee appears to have the edge over him from a defensive perspective.
This shows that Rodgers does have a player with the potential to slot straight into the left-back spot in the starting XI, which is why he could afford to brutally bin Taylor next month if a club comes in with an offer for him.
As bad as Taylor: Rodgers must instantly drop 6/10 Celtic star
Celtic secured the first piece of silverware of the season by defeating Rangers at Hampden.
1 ByMatt DawsonDec 15, 2024