Troy Deeney reads Rangers the riot act after Celtic 'battering' as he sends sobering reality check to Ibrox


Troy Deeney believes Celtic hold ‘a big, insurmountable gap’ over Glasgow rivals Rangers following their 3-0 win over Philippe Clement’s men.
The Hoops looked in control throughout the first derby of the season and took a commanding lead into half-time in last Sunday’s clash thanks to goals from Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi. Callum McGregor added a third goal with 15 minutes to help Brendan Rodgers’ side extend their perfect start to the season with a fourth consecutive league win and a fifth consecutive victory in all competitions.
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Hide AdThe home win also meant the Hoops are now five points ahead of Rangers, with only Aberdeen able to match their faultless start to the new Premiership season. Speaking earlier this week, former Rangers player-manager Graeme Souness defended his old club’s performance, suggesting the stats proved there was little between the two sides.
He told talkSPORT: “You have to put the ball in the back of the net and right now they have better strikers than us.” But when he was told it wasn’t just the strikers, Souness responded: “Is it? Can I read some stats to you from yesterday’s game? Pretend you don’t know the result.
“Celtic had 53 per cent possession and Rangers 47 per cent at Parkhead, that’s not bad for an away team. Celtic had 14 shots, Rangers 13, Celtic had four on target, Rangers four on target. Does that sound like a one-sided game to you? There’s no doubt a gap, but for me it is because Celtic have better strikers.”
However, former Watford and Birmingham City striker Troy Deeney has hit back at Souness, stating Rangers ‘got battered’ and insisting Celtic hold a sizeable advantage on their arch rivals.
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Hide AdSpeaking with Souness and former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan on YouTube show Three Up Front, Deeney said when asked if he’d seen the derby: “I did, yeah. I felt like they (Rangers) got battered, personally. When you watch the Liverpool game, it’s Man United, you can watch that emotionless and go, Liverpool were miles better than that team. My eye test said Celtic were a better team. There did look a big, insurmountable gap.”
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