Profligacy the real winner in Celtic v Rangers derby trilogy's anti-climax

Both of those statements have a foundation in fact; the Hoops and Rangers played out an exceedingly even game with both missing big chances yet the Greek-Australian's second comment relates to the Light Blues' ascendancy in the final stages where a Fashion Sakala miss sticks in the mind.

Earlier, Sakala had levelled proceedings following Jota's first-half opening goal. The 1-1 draw keeps Celtic six points clear of their Govan rivals at the Premiership summit with three matches left to play.

Postecoglou - who now has an overall derby record of two wins, two defeats and a draw in his debut season - opted for the same starting XI that faced Ross County a week previous.

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some of the key StatsBomb data from a crucial game in the title run-in to give you a match report experience like no other.

xG and trendline

The trendline shows neither side came flying out the traps and, while Rangers created the first real chance - Ryan Kent's blindside run and volley - the Jota goal after 20 minutes sparked Celtic into life and deflated the away side for the rest of the half.

Rangers' equaliser had the same effect, with Sakala's 67th-minute finish prompting a period of Celtic flatlining as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men finished the match very much in the ascendancy.

StatsBomb has the final cumulative xG totals at 1.42-1.11 in favour of the Govan side, while statistically Daizen Maeda's 42nd-minute missed header was the best chance of the game at 0.37 xG.

Based on the shots they manufactured, Celtic would have avoided defeat in this match 57 per cent of the time.

Shots

Celtic's had nine attempts at goal. Six of their shots were in the box, with four of those coming in close, central areas.

The breakdown of the nine efforts was as follows: one was on target (the goal), with five off-target and three blocked. In terms of xG, the Hoops created three mid-to-high-quality chances, all of which were from open play.

READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Jota and Carl Starfelt help keep Rangers at arm's length with Parkhead point

Rangers got off 14 attempts with all but two of those in the penalty box and almost reaching double figures for shots from close, central areas even though they were playing without a recognised centre forward.

Five of their efforts were on target with eight off target and one blocked. Joe Hart made four saves throughout the afternoon with three of those coming in the final 20 minutes. Sakala's strike which hit the post was rated 0.32 xG.

Individually, Sakala took the most shots with six, followed by Jota and Kent with three apiece. Anthony Ralston and Maeda were the only other players to take more than one.

Possession, passing and positions

Remember that the warmer the colour the more influential the player and the thicker the passing lines the more passes between the players. The network gives a sense of where the game was played and who was most involved.

The respective pass maps suggest quite a few similarities in terms of setup if not overall tactics. In midfield, the obvious contrast is the tight positioning of the Rangers trio compared to Celtic's. 

While both sides did use their full-backs for width, the average positions of Jota and Maeda can also be influenced by their interchanging compared to their Rangers counterparts, who did take the form of more inside forwards than outside wingers.

Partly as a result of Celtic's pressing and partly due to intent, Rangers were often forced long and wide. Conversely, the visitors' aggressive, man-for-man system was designed to make it difficult for the Hoops to pass out from the back.

As a result, neither side finished the match with notable pass accuracy stats. Celtic completed 376 of 482 pass attempts (78 per cent) and Rangers 353 of 481 (73 per cent).

In terms of individual players, Jota played the most key passes of any Celtic player with two while James Tavernier topped all players with five (albeit four were via set-pieces). Overall, no player from either team played more than one key pass from open play.

Pressing and defending stats

Celtic accumulated 170 pressures to Rangers' 173 with the flanks the most intense battlegrounds.

Sakala and Borna Barisic clocked the most overall pressures with 25 and 22 respectively, with Maeda (21) and Matt O'Riley (20) also standing out in this regard. As he so often does, Maeda took the mantle for total pressure duration and duration per pressure, with Gers defender Calvin Bassey clocking the most pressured action fails.

Maeda and O'Riley were also Celtic's top two for counter-pressing, with their totals just behind Scott Arfield's match-high eight.

Starfelt's defensive actions, mistakes and recoveries map v Rangers

When it came to defensive actions Starfelt led the way with five tackles, six interceptions, 12 clearances and 10 aerial wins (the latter three match-high totals) with notable contributions also from Callum McGregor (a game-leading six tackles, three interceptions, not dribbled past). 

In comparison, Tavernier was Rangers' striking performer with five tackles, four interceptions (both team-high totals) and a 100 per cent aerial success rate from his three duels (one of only two Gers with Barisic to do so).