Giovanni van Bronckhorst blames ‘unbelievable’ first-half collapse for Rangers defeat to Celtic

Celtic scored twice in the final minutes of the opening period to seal an important win in the Scottish Premiership title race

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Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst slammed his side’s first-half performance against Celtic and said it proved costly in the 3-0 Old Firm defeat on Wednesday.

Celtic struck all three of their goals in a dominant first-half display at Parkhead as Ange Postecoglou’s side moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership table at the expense of their rivals.

Reo Hatate scored twice and Liel Abada added the third, with the final two goals coming within the space of two minutes shortly before the interval.

Rangers were unable to recover in the second half, with Van Bronckhorst showing his anger at his side’s performance by making a triple change at the break.

"It's very disappointing. It seemed like it was the first Old Firm derby we played," Van Bronckhorst said to Sky Sports.

“We know what the environment is, the ambiance, the pressure. But it seemed like we weren't ready for it. The way we gave the goals away, it's sharpness.

“I can't say otherwise. Not going with your man, not ready for the battles. It was an unbelievable first-half performance. We were much better in the second half.

"That's where our Old Firm derby started. We were much more aggressive. But in the first half we gave the game away.”

Rangers are a point behind Celtic with 14 games of the season remaining, with Van Bronckhorst’s side hosting third-placed Hearts on Sunday.

“We had an honest conversation in the locker room after the game, it's obvious we weren't the way we wanted,” Van Bronckhorst added.

"These kind of games are always difficult. All we have to do is stick together and make sure we look forward and be ready for Sunday against Hearts.

"It's a very tough environment to come to, but we're not the first Rangers team to lose. I lost very big here when I was a player but we eventually became champions that year.

"Of course we wanted to win but these games don't decide a championship. We still have many games to play and we have to be ready."