Shaun Maloney played a clear and present role as Celtic came through their penalty shootout win over Rangers at Ibrox. After 120 minutes of a tight, tense game, it came down to moments from the spot in a ground where pressure builds quickly.
The match never settled into a rhythm. Rangers had control for spells. Celtic had to defend their box and stay in the game when it turned scrappy. By full-time, it felt like one mistake would decide it. Extra time did not change that.
That’s how he’s gone about things this season. Work it through in training, then strip it back when it matters. No point adding more when the game is already on edge.
He said: (The Herald), “It wasn’t anything too deep, really. We had practised these situations before. We did it before the previous cup game against Dundee. It wasn’t anything complex, it wasn’t anything too motivating, it wasn’t anything Churchillian.
“The players work really hard and the staff work hard with the players. I just told them to trust the technique that they have and to have belief in their own ability. That is exactly what they did.
“It was a really intense game. The atmosphere was unbelievably intense. Obviously, what happened afterwards was really difficult. But on the pitch post-90 minutes and post-120 minutes was really, really intense.
“As a group of staff, we wanted to take the players out of that atmosphere for even the briefest of moments and drive home to them the need to trust what they had when it came to the penalties. The penalties they took were brilliant.”
That idea of stepping away from the moment is what stood out. Ibrox during a shootout can rush players. Miss-hit one and the whole tone changes.
Celtic never looked rushed. The run-ups were confident. The strikes were perfect. That usually comes from repetition rather than instinct in the moment.
In the end, it was simple. Shaun Maloney kept the message clear, and Celtic executed it.
