How Aaron Mooy swung derby v Rangers back in Celtic's favour

Daizen Maeda put the league leaders in front after just five minutes at Ibrox, slotting past Allan McGregor after a slack pass from Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos. 

Ryan Kent levelled for the home side just after the break before James Tavernier put Michael Beale’s men 2-1 up from the spot on 53 minutes. 

However, Kyogo kept his cool to fire in a dramatic equaliser in the closing minutes to preserve the Hoops' nine-point lead at the summit of the Scottish Premiership. 

It may not have been a vintage display under Ange Postecoglou but there were still several fine individual performances that ensured Rangers were denied a morale-boosting victory that would have narrowed the gap at the top of the league to six with two derbies to come. 

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Cameron Carter-Vickers was colossal at the back, Reo Hatate was all-action in the midfield and Maeda continued his impressive form with an electric first half display. Alistair Johnston also enjoyed a solid debut at right-back.

Aaron Mooy, introduced on the hour, was another who made his mark on derby day. He played an important role in helping Postecoglou’s side wrestle back some control in the game.

Unlucky not to start given his recent form, the Australian helped stabilise the midfield at a point when Rangers were in the ascendency.

The former Huddersfield Town man got his foot on the ball, adding some much-needed quality in possession and picked up smart positions between the lines.

Here, we break down Mooy’s influential 30-minute cameo at Ibrox...

First pass (61 mins)

Mooy replaced Matt O’Riley as part of a double change from Postecoglou on the hour, which also saw James Forrest make way for Liel Abada.  

The 32-year-old's first involvement in the game came just seconds after he came on when he received a pass from the impressive Carter-Vickers.

Using his body well to protect the ball, Mooy allowed Glen Kamara to get close as he received the pass before rolling the Rangers midfielder to free himself. 

Followed by a quick touch and turn to face up the pitch, Mooy used the time and space he had made for himself to slide a nicely weighted left-footed pass down the line to find fellow substitute Abada.

It was a pass that got Celtic in behind Rangers' backline and one that would set the tone for the rest of Mooy’s performance. 

Cross (69 mins)

One of Mooy’s next key involvements was an accurate cross that Rangers struggled to deal with. 

Initially, it was some clever off-the-ball movement to free himself in midfield, opening up a passing lane for Johnston to find him.  

He then carried through the right half-space to the corner of the box before fizzing in an accurate low cross that found Hatate. 

Hatate wasn’t able to quite get the ball under control but his off-balance effort that came back off Connor Goldson led to one of several handball appeals from Celtic. 

The ball eventually found its way to captain Callum McGregor, who also cannoned a shot off a Rangers defender before the ball went out of play for a throw-in on the opposite side. 

Pass to Jota (85 mins) 

With time starting to run out for Celtic to salvage anything from the game, Mooy continued to get on the ball and make things happen for his side.

That included an attempt to release Jota down the left in the final five minutes. 

Dropping deep to get on the ball, Mooy spotted the run of the Portuguese winger and almost found him with a lofted, curling right-footed ball. 

Although Jota was unable to control it after going for it with his head rather than his left foot, which may have been the better option, it was still another decent pass from the Australian and further evidence of him taking responsibility on the ball at a crucial time in the game. 

Equaliser (87 mins)

Mooy would combine with Jota to great effect shortly after with their involvement in the move that led to Kyogo’s equaliser.

Picking up the ball on the left, the former Benfica man beats Tavernier one v one, cutting inside to attack the left half-space. 

As Jota attacks the space, Mooy, who joined the front line of Celtic’s attack, moves off the back of Ryan Jack. 

Another piece of smart off-the-ball movement from the Australian international, this gives the winger the option to slide the ball down the side of the Rangers' defence.

Jota obliges with Mooy staying onside thanks to Borna Barasic, and possibly Ben Davies, dropping too deep.  

He then again protects the ball well to get around the side of his man and although he can only play the ball in the direction of the goal off Jack, it is enough to keep it alive for Jota, who follows his pass in brilliantly to get a touch over to Giorgos Giakoumakis.

The Greek striker, making a front post run that attracts several Rangers players, then has a swing that ricochets into the path of Kyogo to slam home the equaliser. 

As an aside, the Japan international's movement is also worth highlighting when breaking down this goal. With the Ibrox side's players attracted towards the ball and the goal, Kyogo cleverly holds his position just inside the box. 

As the ball arrives at Giakoumakis at the front post, he then takes one step forward to set himself, making a clean connection as he side-foots into the roof of the net. 

Mooy’s off-the-ball movement and ability to protect the ball were just as important though, helping to engineer a situation that Celtic were able to capitalise on to maximum effect.  

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StatsBomb data 

StatsBomb’s data from the derby is also revealing when it comes to Mooy’s impact off the bench at Ibrox. 

The data provider now measures pass contributions with their on-ball value metric (often referred to as OBV, a term breakdown can be read here).

On Monday, Mooy registered the highest OBV of any player on the pitch. His 0.22 value from 15 successful passes was just ahead of Johnston, who clocked 0.21 from his 46 completed passes. 

Although is it worth noting the Canadian played longer so it is not a like-for-like comparison. The same goes for comparisons to the man Mooy replaced, O’Riley. 

However, it is still interesting to see how effective Mooy’s half-hour was compared to O’Riley, who had an OBV value of -0.11 from 20 completed passes in his hour display.

Again, there is the context here that Mooy played his half-hour when Celtic were chasing the game so was perhaps likely to be on ball more compared to O’Riley, who played most of his minutes with Celtic either in front or level. Although not at his best on the ball, O’Riley still put in a decent shift off the ball too. 

Mooy’s impressive OBV is still certainly noteworthy, possibly adding further evidence that he is deserving of an extended run in the team. 

For O’Riley, who made his 18th start in a row, many of which were stepping into McGregor's boots at the base of midfield while the Celtic captain was out, it is safe to say he is not quite in the same fine form as he was earlier in the season.  

However, with the schedule easing now in the New Year, the Denmark under-21 international will surely be back to his best soon enough. 

But back to Mooy. Other numbers from his derby performance include providing one of Celtic’s five key passes in the game and executing two crosses, both of which found a team-mate.

Overall, he had 20 open-play passes, six of which came in the final third. He also had two passes into the box, tied with fellow substitute Jota for the most in the Parkhead team.

His pass completion was just 67 per cent, although this could be attributed to his tendency to take on those more difficult line-breaking passes as he continued to look to make things happen as Celtic trailed. 

Conclusion

Mooy’s effective display in the second half at Ibrox on Monday was another example of why Postecoglou brought him to the club

Although he might not be in the manager's first XI for every game, the Australian’s experience, composure and quality on the ball add real value to this Celtic squad.  

Those assets were certainly required in that final half-hour in Govan, with his arrival in the game coming at a point when the Hoops midfield was in danger of being overrun completely. 

It may have been Kyogo who provided the pivotal moment that snatched the draw at Ibrox but there is no doubt Mooy’s cameo played a big role in helping secure a result that keeps Celtic in the driving seat in the Scottish Premiership title race.