The Scottish Cup semi-final was tight, as Ange put it, it was a game of moments and the Ibrox club just edged it.
However, the game slowly slipped away from Celtic when they lost their first choice right-back with around 25 minutes left to play.
Anthony Ralston has had a top season and really came to the fore, but this wasn’t his game. It got worse for Celtic when Greg Taylor pulled up and didn’t come back on for extra time.
With limited options, Ralston had to go to left back and Welsh had to play right back.
It was a large part of our undoing and it shows from the stat below.
Taylor and Juranovic played the majority of the semi final and combined lost possession 7 times. Welsh and Ralston combined lost it 14 times.
Those injuries hobbled us.
— Cynic McKay (@gmakaay) April 19, 2022
This isn’t an article to get at either Ralston or Welsh. They were both played out of position in extra time and struggled as a result.
However, it pinpoints how vital Juranovic and Taylor are to Ange’s system this season.
We weren’t at our best but we looked more assured with the Croatian on the right and the Scottish left-back in his natural position.
An injury to either one would be a blow going into the final five games.
Welsh is nowhere near Celtic class, knew we were doomed when he came on as RB on Sunday