Majestic McGregor makes the difference whilst Barkas is beaten.
In yesterday’s Old Firm encounter, Rangers overcame Celtic 1-0 to stretch their lead at the top of the SPFL Premiership to 19 points with the Parkhead side having to play catch-up with three games in hand.
The star man for the Gers was the evergreen veteran Allan McGregor who stepped up when called upon with a string of fine saves to thwart Celtic’s dominant first half display.
In particular, his fingertip save onto the post from Leigh Griffiths’ curling strike was a moment of real quality. The 38 year old showed that he is still the man for the big moment which is why McGregor is considered as the best goalkeeper in Scotland. This was further outlined by shutting out a smart double-strike from Celtic’s Edouard as well as another driven attempt from Griffiths which was deflected before the Rangers number one palmed clear.
At the other end, Celtic’s Greece international keeper Vasilis Barkas had much less to do, yet was still blasted for his lack of impact when it mattered.
Despite the scoreline, Rangers did not register a shot on target as the own-goal came from Calum McGregor’s upper arm after Joe Aribo’s deft headed touch on a James Tavernier corner.
This was the moment when Barkas again flattered to deceive.
With a standard starting position at the corner, the flight of the ball came across his body toward the far post and Barkas strangely made a standing dive with his feet ending up behind the goal line.
This Glasgow Live report outlined the incident and the lack of belief that is felt by a section of Celtic fans toward their man.
Following his reported £4.5 million transfer from AEK Athens last summer, Celtic’s intended first choice goalkeeper has not impressed and given that he only had one real moment of danger to face yesterday, it does not reflect well on the Greek international.
Barkas’ failings were outlined by BBC pundit Michael Stewart, whilst he paid tribute to the strength and superiority of Rangers No1, Allan McGregor.
On the BBC Sportsound show, as reported by the Daily Record, Stewart stated that Barkas ‘doesn’t make saves’.
Stewart continued, “ That’s another stark contrast between the sides. Celtic have been scrambling around to see who their number one goalkeeper is. They’ve signed Barkas for almost £5million and he has simply not been good enough.”
“He doesn’t make saves, he’s not an imposing character and he doesn’t breed confidence and that has permeated throughout the side”
Meanwhile, the plaudits went to Rangers McGregor as his exploits saw him confirmed as the man of the match.
The Glasgow Times carried a report from his post match comments in which he urged his team mates to ‘start getting back to winning and playing well’.
One of the key factors in the current 19 point gap between Rangers and Celtic is the down to the personnel between the sticks for both teams and their prowess. Yesterday, Rangers had a goalkeeper on the bench in Jon McLaughlin who has kept 10 clean sheets from 11 appearances in all competitions. This is in addition to 14 clean sheets in 22 outings for McGregor.
Rangers sterling defensive efforts this season has been outlined by conceding just 5 goals all season from 22 SPFL Premiership games, to date.
In contrast Celtic have utilised three different goalkeepers this season without a stand out number one choice or any sustained run of form. Collectively, they have conceded 15 goals from their 19 league games so far, with only 12 clean sheets overall.
The Premiership league table tells the tale.