Philippe Clement says Rangers need to be more clinical after defeat at Celtic Park

Philippe Clement says Rangers need to be more clinical against Celtic after falling to another Old Firm defeat against their Glasgow rivals.

The Belgian is now without a win in five games against the Hoops who ran 3-0 winners in the east-end of Glasgow on Sunday.

Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi both scored in the first-half before Callum McGregor secured all three points with a long-range strike in the second.

Celtic were well deserving of the win but Rangers did have a few chances in the game that they failed to take advantage of.

And Clement says that is something they need to improve on when they come up against the team from across the city.

He said: “We started the game really well, we had the best of the ball in the first ten-minutes. We had two really good opportunities with Cyriel (Dessers) in front of goal and Rabbi (Matondo) with a free header.

“We need to be clinical in these games, to go in front it changes the momentum and it would have helped the team a lot to go in front here and we didn’t.

“We did good things with the ball but we need to be more clinical in those moments.

“It was the same in the second-half, in the end Celtic have 14 shots and we have 13, we both have four shots on target each, but you lose 3-0 and that’s really a clear result and down to a difference in efficiency.”

Clement said there was much more to come from his side and vowed they would show that in the New Year fixture.

Celtic have only suffered one defeat in 13 against their city rivals, that loss coming in May 2023 after they had already wrapped up the title.

But, when asked if there was now a “gulf” in class, Clement said: “No, we will see in January. Celtic have some guys who are playing two, three years together. Of course there is more understanding between players.

“We are just at the start with a new squad. In that way, there were really positive things in the beginning of the game, but you need to kill off the game then and to score and then it can be another dynamic.

“Of course when it’s 3-0, you need to shut up and to accept that you lost and it was not good enough. So we’re going to work really hard the next couple of months to be much better in January.”

The Belgian added: “There’s still 34 games to go. We know we need to improve a lot of things and gel people together and get this understanding between players.

“The best is by far yet to come with this squad. I’ve seen a lot of good things in training, in the last games and also today in the beginning, in the reaction in the second half. But we need to reward ourselves.”

Rodgers dismissed suggestions the margin of victory was a big statement.

“No, I think we’re only starting,” he said.

“For me, the pleasing aspect was the performance. That was what we’d said to the players. We want to always make it really difficult for every opponent that we play.

“It was a fantastic performance. We were electric going forward. But equally as pleasing is that we were defensively solid and strong and right to the very end.

“Overall, it was such a great day for us. It just continues the quality, the speed, the intensity with which we’ve been playing.”