Dujon Sterling penalty incident took shine off Rangers vs Celtic performance – here’s why
Sunday’s Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic will see Dujon Sterling’s involvement remembered for the wrong reasons.
Rangers came flying out of the blocks, with Youssef Chermiti scoring one of the all-time Old Firm goals with an acrobatic overhead kick on eight minutes, before his industry saw him rewarded when netting his second on 26 minutes.
Ibrox was in dreamland as such, with Danny Rohl‘s side looking to put the game to bed before half-time, but that wasn’t to be the case.
Gers would come to rue that too, as a second-half fightback from Celtic, inspired by some tactical tweaks from Martin O’Neill, saw them equalise in added time via the penalty spot.
Daizen Maeda’s header struck the arm of Sterling at point-blank range, before Jack Butland made the save, however VAR instructed referee John Beaton to take another look, and after doing so, he pointed to the spot.
Dujon Sterling handball overshadowed his Celtic display
It was a harsh decision, as there wasn’t much Sterling could do to avoid the ball from striking his arm, and asking him to jump with his arms behind his back in that scenario is just not reasonable at all.
Alas, the officials evidently felt that had it not hit his arm, then Celtic would’ve equalised there and then.
But in a game that was end-to-end and a brilliant advert for Scottish football, it was the type of decision that – unless you’re a Celtic fan – many will feel frustrated by.
What it also served to do was take the focus off what had otherwise been a good performance from Sterling, which deserved to have his name in the headlines rather than that penalty incident.
As detailed in the above graphic from Sofascore, Sterling won six out of his 10 total duels, made nine clearances and completed his sole dribble attempt successfully.
On top of that, the Gers defender made 14 defensive contributions, made just one foul (the handball), took 59 touches of the ball with just one being unsuccessful and made three recoveries.
It was much-improved display from his Hearts performance in his prior appearance, and proved to Rohl that he’s a player that can be trusted at right-back in the absence of James Tavernier.
Rohl should start Sterling again vs Celtic in Scottish Cup
Luckily for Rangers, they have the chance to put Sunday’s 2-2 scoreline right this coming Sunday, as the two sides meet at Ibrox again, this time in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
The back-to-back nature of these two fixtures presents some fascinating angles, from team selection calls to a possible Sterling revenge arc.
Rohl should allow Sterling the chance to do so too, as the 26-year-old was otherwise very solid on Sunday, exemplified by the fact that both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Tierney were replaced down the Celtic left – his side.
Cup games usually present the chance for rotation, but this fixture knows no such premise, and Rangers should feel hurt after Sunday’s draw, and so Rohl should be going full strength once again.
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