Jack Butland has warned Celtic that it’s only a matter of time before city rivals Rangers get one over on them.
It comes after the Hoops defeated the Ibrox club on penalties in Sunday’s tightly contested Premier Sports Cup final.
Brendan Rodgers’ side didn’t play to the best of their abilities, failing to take control of the match in the first half. Rangers remained compact defensively, remaining disciplined and taking advantage of Greg Taylor’s loose pass near the end of the first 45 to go in front.
Celtic inevitably improved in the second half, with Taylor redeeming himself to draw them level and Daizen Maeda firing them in front. After a frantic end to the second period in which Mohamed Diomande, Nicolas Kuhn, and Danilo all scored, the game went to extra time and, eventually, penalties.
The Bhoys walked away 5-4 victors on spot-kicks. Butland, despite scoring, didn’t save any in the shootout.
Although he thinks he and his teammates did enough to win the match on Sunday, he reckons a Rangers Glasgow derby victory isn’t far away: “Today is going to hurt for a long time,” admitted the goalkeeper (BBC).
“It was one of those where we felt like we did enough (to win).
“We do believe, and I think that performance today (Sunday) showed that we have the quality to compete and to beat them (Celtic).
“So for us, it feels like a matter of time (before we beat Celtic).”
By the law of averages, Rangers will eventually beat Celtic at some point, but they couldn’t even do it on Sunday, when they were at their best and, arguably, the Hoops were at their worst.
Ibrox on January 2 will be a totally different game, and we’ll then see if Butland’s statement rings true.
