Danny Rohl was unhappy with the officials after his side drew with Celtic (Image: Getty)
A defiant Danny Rohl hit back at claims his struggling Rangers lack the mental fortitude for the title race, following their failure to extinguish Celtic‘s hopes of claiming the championship. The Gers’ German manager knew his side had the opportunity to virtually end their Old Firm rivals’ chances of reeling in league leaders Hearts with a victory.
That prospect appeared well within reach after a breathtaking opening 45 minutes at Ibrox, illuminated by two magnificent strikes from striker Youssef Chermiti. However, the derby momentum shifted at half-time as Martin O’Neill reshaped his Hoops line-up – with Kieran Tierney finding the net before Reo Hatate’s 91st-minute penalty rebound secured a draw that leaves the Light Blues six points behind Derek McInnes’ Jambos.
The outcome means Rangers have now drawn 12 of their 29 league matches this season, recording just three victories in their last eight games across all competitions. Yet Rohl – whose side were 13 points adrift when he took charge in October —-insists his players have mounted a recovery before and are capable of doing so again.
He said: « I don’t accept this about mentality. Everyone who has played football knows there is a story in every game. There is momentum for one team and for the second team it’s important that we continue our performance for the whole 90 minutes. We need to do this.
« We have done this already and we have shown character to come back before. So the gap is now six points, but I have said this time and time again.
« This will go to the final match day and we will fight and fight for every point until the end, We will try and improve against them next week and we will go again, I think this is key. There are nine games to go, it’s massive. There are a lot of things still to play for and I truly believe in my players. »
The strike Chermiti netted to hand Rangers the lead will be discussed for years to come, having found the back of the net with a breathtaking scissor kick. He grabbed a second when he dispossessed Julian Araujo before slotting past Viljami Sinisalo.
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Rangers surrendered a late equaliser against Celtic (Image: Getty)
Yet those moments of brilliance ultimately amounted to just a single point as the Gers failed to sustain their blistering pace into the second half. Rohl believes his side’s fierce rivals were « lucky » at the death as they snatched a late equaliser after Dujon Sterling was penalised by VAR for a goal-line handball.
He said: « In the end I am disappointed, I think we are all disappointed. We played 50 minutes of outstanding football, all aspects of the game. We were much the better team with good pressing and good transition moments.
« We had good possession stats, we dominated them and they had no chances. But the game is across 95 minutes, not 45 minutes or 50 minutes.
« It was clear to me at halftime that they would try something, they would come out strong. But we had three good moments early in the second half. Then you could feel the momentum change. We lost some balls, we didn’t attack the last line the way we wanted to.
« They scored and then you know they have nothing to lose. They can go all in. At the end, they get the penalty to make it 2-2. Until the end you fight for this point, and I think it’s also, of course, lucky for them to get the penalty late. »
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