The astonishing Jon McLaughlin numbers that pose Rangers No.1 questions

They lacked an individual to drag them back into the game against the run of play, or a midfielder to assert control and dominate exchanges. Most notably, their goalkeeper could not bail out his teammates with game-changing stops when the momentum was so heavily in Celtic’s favour.

It’s important to add a caveat. As the Rangers Review analysed yesterday, the team conceded three first-half goals on the back of switching off at restarts. The responsibility for this defeat was team-wide. Giovanni van Bronckhorst criticised his team for not being “ready” in these moments despite “preparing” for a high-tempo match leading up to the game.

“We prepared for these moments that they were able to be dangerous and we weren’t ready so that’s very disappointing because you want to play a good game,” the manager added.

“Of course, you can always have goals against you but not in this manner. That’s not the way we need to concede goals.”

From the start to end of each first-half goal Rangers underperformed and that is what will frustrate van Bronckhorst the most. After all, after the 3-0 Old Firm defeat last February, he lost one, drew one and won the other remaining meeting with Ange Postecoglou. Particularly in a semi-final win at Hampden, this side pressed Celtic successfully and managed to play their own way out of defence.

While recruitment and domestic concerns after the weekend are entirely valid, it is important to consider that context when looking at the weekend’s fixture.

However, at Celtic Park the discipline required out of possession was not on show and when the ball did arrive at the feet of Liel Abada and Jota, McLaughlin couldn’t keep Celtic out.

Over the 90 minutes, his Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) return stood at -2.02.

StastBomb define GSAA as the following: “How many goals did the keeper save/concede versus expectation (post-shot xG faced)? This is representative of how many goals the goalkeeper's saves prevented.”

In isolation, McLaughlin underperformed by two goals at Parkhead.

Celtic overperformed their xG (1.55) to score four goals. They were clinical and by far the more dangerous team throughout to any eye watching. At the same time, a better goalkeeping performance could’ve kept the score down prior to half-time. The shots faced were not unsavable.

Jota’s goal is a good example. While a superb touch and finish, McLaughlin almost made the attacker’s mind up by going to ground early with the angle already narrowed on a 0.07xG chance.

Similarly, both Abada goals were hit with power but struck centrally. One squirmed away from the Scotland international and the other went straight through his legs.

The 34-year-old hasn’t struggled to this degree in his Ibrox career to date and recently put in a commanding performance as his team reached the Champions League in Eindhoven.

In the early stages of the season, his ability to play out from the back has improved Rangers’ build-up play. Until the pass directly into David Turnbull for Celtic’s fourth goal on Saturday.

However, McLaughlin’s numbers demonstrate a poor goalkeeping performance on the day that poses questions over the decision to not bring in a No.1 during the summer. Will Rangers regret not strengthening in an area that posed problems last season?