Steven Gerrard walked into Celtic Park on Sunday with an air of confidence befitting a man who handled many hostile occasions during his illustrious playing career.
A Champions League medal, among eight major trophies, decorates Gerrard’s 860 career appearances, and his 10 goals in Merseyside derbies for Liverpool is only bettered by Ian Rush’s 25.
Gerrard said: “I’m used to these big games. I’ve been around these big games since I was a young boy so it’s not a problem but it’s not about me, it’s about my team.
“It’s about belief and courage. You have to have balls to play out there. We have to believe we can go out there and do a good job.”
A player of Gerrard’s ilk would have relished coming up against Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham at Celtic Park – two players not in the former England midfielder’s class, but a pair who dominated this game as Gerrard watched from the sidelines.
Rangers were far more organised here than they were five months ago, with captain James Tavernier the sole survivor from the side that was embarrassed 5-0 on the day Celtic were crowned champions for the seventh year in a row.
There was naturally a carnival atmosphere that day, which has dissipated at Celtic during a difficult summer of transfer upheaval and the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League group stages.
2:29 Gerrard felt his team was on the wrong side of the key decision in the match
This was a chance for Rangers to make a real statement. Instead, it will have left Gerrard acknowledging that usurping Celtic as the dominant Scottish superpower would be his greatest ever achievement.
Despite an inauspicious start to their domestic campaign, following draws against Aberdeen and Motherwell, the Ibrox club were expected to pose Celtic questions as an attacking threat.
As it was, Craig Gordon was largely untroubled, with the depleted number of 800 travelling supporters having to wait until the 69th minute for Alfredo Morelos to test the Celtic stopper with a near-post shot that was comfortably kept out.
By then, Celtic had already hit the woodwork on three occasions as James Forrest, Mikael Lustig and Ntcham were all denied while Allan McGregor brilliantly kept out Odsonne Edouard’s header from close range.
It only seemed a matter of time before Celtic broke the deadlock, but it was the nature of the goal which left Gerrard deflated.
While Celtic were good value for their 1-0 win, the decisive moment came at a time when Rangers sought to open up.
Ryan Kent moved into a more advanced role behind Kyle Lafferty and Morelos.
Gerrard claimed his side ought to have been awarded a free-kick in the lead-up to the goal – claiming even the fourth official felt Ryan Jack was upended by Tom Rogic – but you sensed he was clutching at straws after being caught out by his former manager.
The execution of the breakaway goal in many ways vindicated Rangers’ cautious approach in the first half, when they were restricted to just 25 per cent possession.
In showing a bit more adventure, Gerrard’s side were left brutally exposed in what was a typical goal from a Rodgers team.
Kris Boyd, who won six major trophies with Rangers including two league titles, said: “With the pace Celtic have got to attack you, you have to be secure in behind and Rangers got hit on the counter-attack.”
Reflecting on Rangers’ first-half performance, Boyd added: “They were compact, they were hard to break down, the wide players were doing a tremendous shift about the pitch.
“But when you try to force the issue against Celtic, that’s what can happen. Inside two or three passes, they’re at your back line. With the quality they’ve got in the final third, they’re going to score goals.”
For all the optimism generated by winning three Europa League qualifying rounds, it is a statistic that will not sit easily with Gerrard throughout the international break.
It proved unlucky number 13 for him – a first loss in his managerial career that revealed the size of the task he faces in trying to re-establish Rangers as a meaningful force in Scottish football and genuine title contender.
1:58 Brendan Rodgers feels his Celtic side should have won more convincingly
There were signs of improvement in the second half, once his side were chasing the game, but for all of Gerrard’s protests at the nature of Celtic’s winning goal, the scoreline flattered the visitors.
Kris Commons said: “This was a very dominant Celtic performance. Barring the woodwork, it could have been two or three in the first half.
“Rangers have shown they have got better, but they’re still a long way off Celtic based on that performance.”
It is the start of a challenging month for the 36-year-old manager.
Gerrard will be hopeful of a response when struggling Dundee come to Ibrox in a fortnight’s time before a trip to Villarreal provides another baptism of fire in the first game of a challenging Europa League group.
St Johnstone and Livingston provide further tests in the coming four weeks, and Gerrard added: “I’ve asked questions of this squad since the June 15 and we’ve closed the gap.
“But there’s still work to do. We still need to improve and get bodies back that are fit. We need to focus not on officials if we can help it but on ourselves.
“Hopefully, in the near future we’ll get more training time and when Celtic next come around, we’ll turn up for 90 minutes and not just the 45 today in the second half.”
The pressure will now be on Gerrard to turn European performances into domestic points.
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