Celtic headed to Ibrox on Sunday with the Premiership title wrapped up.
As a result of it, celebrations were in order for Celtic, and you just knew that the champions were going to make themselves known in the backyard of their rivals.
After losing the last two Glasgow derby games, many were also wondering what type of match would be in order, even if, on paper, nothing was on the line.
In the end, Celtic picked up a point against Rangers, including finishing the game in the strongest manner, as Brendan Rodgers’ side controlled the match during the second period, and in truth, should have really won it.
You could argue that there was some needle at the start of the game, that aggression was there and the crowd was fired up.
But it then, in an unusual fashion, seemed to peter out, to the disappointment of Ally McCoist.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesAlly McCoist reacts to Celtic’s draw at Rangers lacking any bite
The first man who was booked during the game wasn’t a player, but Rangers boss Barry Ferguson for protesting at the referee’s call.
The first player in the book was Rangers’ Bailey Rice, before Celtic’s Jonny Kenny followed suit, and McCoist was asked about there being a lack of yellow cards during the game.
When analysing the game back, a talkSPORT presenter joked to McCoist that he should be ‘ashamed of yourself’ that the Glasgow derby didn’t live up to its reputation, and the former striker admitted that it was ‘the biggest embarrassment the derby has had’.
TalkSport presenter stated: “The game has gone. The first yellow card was in the 88th minute. The manager got if a few minutes before.
“The first player booking 88th minute. There were two player bookings in the Glasgow derby. Ally, you should be ashamed of yourself. That was utter woke nonsense.”
McCoist responded: “I don’t want to talk about it. I was embarrassed. The two players who were booked were teenagers. They were substitutes when they came on. That’s the biggest embarrassment the derby has had.”
So, dead rubbers do exist…
Chris Sutton made the point before the match that this was a ‘dead rubber’, but some weren’t having any of it because it was the Glasgow derby.
But you can’t argue that is what occurred as the game wore on, even though, both teams were still trying to win the game, and Celtic should have put it to bed right at the death.
Either way, McCoist admitted that there was a ‘strange’ feeling to it all.
“It was a strange game, it really was, to be honest,” added McCoist.
“All kidding aside, the fact that there were only two yellow cards, and they were young kids, in the 88th and 90th minutes. It probably did tell you a little bit about the game.
“Yeah, the atmosphere was great. But it did lack. It lacked the normal needle.”