Michael Stewart can’t quite believe what he saw Rangers player pull off vs Celtic
Michael Stewart was left in amazement at what he saw from Jack Butland as Rangers fell to defeat against Celtic on Sunday.
Butland played a full part as 10-man Rangers took Celtic to extra-time at Hampden Park, before ultimately losing 3-1 in the additional period.
The Premier Sports Cup semi-final was full of talking points, with Rangers feeling Celtic should have had a man sent off themselves.
The fallout from the latest Old Firm will rumble on for days yet, but Rangers only have a few days now to prepare for their clash with Roma in the Europa League.
Butland will almost certainly start that game, and pundit Stewart was certainly impressed by something he saw from the Rangers goalkeeper at Hampden.
Jack Butland pulls off some incredible saves vs Celtic
Butland conceded three times and arguably could have done more to keep out Callum McGregor’s strike to put Celtic back in front, albeit the shot did take a deflection.
The former England international was otherwise superb, though, pulling off some top saves to keep Rangers in the game.
One of those saves saw Butland get down to keep out an Arne Engels header a little over an hour into the match when Celtic led 1-0.
That proved a massive moment in the game when James Tavernier equalised from the penalty spot in the final 10 minutes.
Speaking live on Premier Sports’ coverage of the match, Stewart said: “How crucial will that prove? It’s a quite incredible reaction save from Butland.
“The header comes in from close quarters and Butland gets down low. It’s a brilliant save.”
Tavernier may have cancelled out Johnny Kenny’s opener, but McGregor and Callum Osmand went on to win the game for Celtic in extra time.
Rangers seeking response to Butland incident in loss vs Celtic
Butland has been guilty of some howlers this season, but he is certainly not to blame for what has been a poor start to the campaign.
He was in the thick of it in more ways than one at Hampden, having been caught on the head by the boot of Celtic’s Auston Trusty.
The incident saw Trusty awarded a yellow card and not a red, which Rangers have now asked the SFA to investigate.
Footage of the incident is pretty damning, with Trusty going for a ball that was never there for the taking and instead catching Butland.
The best Rangers can expect is an apology, however, and that will not make amends for a derby defeat at Hampden.
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