5 VIP pundits deliver drama-filled Rangers vs Celtic verdict as 'ugly' fan disorder + mentality issue addressed

Celtic have progressed to the Scottish Cup semi-final after a dramatic 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over Old Firm rivals Rangers at Ibrox in a game marred by crowd trouble in the aftermath.

Fans of both clubs swarmed on to the pitch at full-time and launched missiles at one another as police and stewards were forced to break up the violence by forming a barricade between the two sides.

It was the first time in eight years that travelling supporters had been allowed to return to the traditional away allocation of 7,500 tickets with Celtic supporters filling the Broomloan Stand. However, the post-match disorder will lead to serious repercussions for both clubs.

The incident was eventually settled down with fans heading off in opposite directions. Shortly after, the Scottish Football Association confirmed there would be an “immediate” investigation carried out as they condemned the disgraceful scenes.

It marred a contest that lacked quality. Both teams had a goal disallowed during the 90 minutes of normal time with Daizen Maeda’s header and Emmanuel Fernandez’ close-range effort both ruled out by VAR.

Here, GlasgowWorld rounds-up the views of five TV and radio pundits to get their summation of what was a cup tie that certainly had no lack of drama...

Michael Stewart

“Ugly scenes at the end but thankfully it’s managed to calm down and not gone any further. The game itself was drama-filled, right to the end. From Celtic’s perspective, they’ll be looking at it positively. They’ve won the game the way they had to, missing a lot of key players. It was lacking in quality, absolutely. For Rangers, the challenge was to break down Celtic and they weren’t capable of it.

“On the accusations of the mental strength and the psychology of the Rangers side, they will always get those questions posed of them until they have their hands on trophies. Today is another day where they’ve come up short and there will be a lot of people asking searching questions of this Rangers side. Are they capable? What does this mean for their title push? It’s a very, very bad day for Rangers, whereas for Celtic a lot of positives. But how much will the casualties that they picked up prior to this game going to have a baring on their league campaign as well?”

Charlie Mulgrew

“Today with Callum McGregor being out, obviously Kieran Tierney is a blow as well. But Callum in particular, the captain, who plays every single minute picking up an injury, you just knew Celtic weren’t going to have control in this game. They struggled to control it at Ibrox last Sunday with him in the team, albeit they got a wee bit back in the second half. But they had little if any sort of control on this game, a few corners here and there but absolutely nothing in the second half and then into extra-time.

“But they defended their box with so much heart. Trusty was outstanding, Benjamin Arthur played his part, top defending from Celtic’s centre-backs. Sinisalo, I must say, came out for crosses and took the pressure off his defenders. He made a few big saves and was brilliant as well today. A steady defensive display from Celtic.

“Rangers dominated in terms of possession without creating loads of chances. They had good opportunities but that final ball let them down. Listen, Celtic deserve credit for how they fought through that and got the result.”

Andy Halliday

“From half-time in normal time onwards, I thought that the full game was played in Celtic’s half. Rangers’ lack of quality in the final third was alarming throughout. For the amount of spell of pressure they had, Sinisalo didn’t really have any saves to make. Chermiti has a couple of big chances. The goal that gets disallowed. There’s a couple bundled and scrambled about in the box. The lack of quality in the final third meant Rangers didn’t deserve to go through.”

Pat Bonner

“It’s incredible, to be honest. I haven’t witnessed a Celtic team that hasn’t had one shot on goal or one shot, it wasn’t even on target. The penalty shootout is a bit of a lottery at times. I’m sorry but I’m looking at some Celtic players that aren’t good enough to be in that Celtic team. Guys that have come in, even on loan. It was so poor, so poor. It’s a victory for hem, they’ll be going into a semi-final, probably as favourites. The likes of Falkirk will have something to say about that.”

Scott Arfield

“Rangers were excellent. Probably for about 70 minutes of the ninety and then completely on top for the majority of extra-time. But again, the manager has done an unbelievable job to get Rangers into the position they are in terms of the title push from when he picked it up, but you’re now back at square one because this was probably the best chance both clubs would’ve had to pick up silverware this season.

“Rangers had to win. Celtic had no McGregor, no Tierney, they’ve played Stuttgart twice, went up to Aberdeen on Wednesday, and get taken to extra-time here. You need to find a way to win that game. When it goes to penalties, it’s a lottery but there’s an art to penalties and you still need to keep your nerve. You need to stay calm, be cool as ice and the pressure probably did tell with the two players who missed.

“There’s a couple of players who did score that I didn’t fancy to score judging by their body language. There’s a thin line with regards to how much that’s got to play in it. You’d have backed Tavernier to slot his home so many times. But Gassama, I didn’t fancy him whatsoever. It’s a golden opportunity missed, another where Rangers should’ve won the game but didn’t find a way.”