Rangers' Viaplay Cup final defeat was decided by these two key errors

Two Kyogo goals in 12 minutes either side of the half-time whistle condemned Michael Beale to his first managerial defeat at the club and the core of this squad to another cup failure.

There is mitigation for Beale who’s made a strong start to life at Ibrox overall but as he well knows, these are judgement days in Glasgow.

Celtic were more intense off the ball than Rangers, who were comfortable sitting in a mid-block and then trying to spring attacks into space.

In the first half, the Ibrox side held just 34 percent of possession to their opponent’s 64. While their pass accuracy stood at 83 percent to Celtic’s 88, Rangers’ long ball share was significantly higher, sitting at 19 percent to their opponent’s six.

Their PPDA (passes allowed per defensive action) was recorded at 19.8 to Celtic’s 5.8. Meaning, Beale’s men were more conservative in the moments that they did choose to press, allowing a far higher average of passes before they attempted a defensive action. Contrastingly, Ange Postecoglou’s men tried to regain possession quickly whenever possession turned over.

All of these numbers illustrate the nature of the first 45 minutes. A similar approach worked for Rangers at new year, when they played over the press in transition and surrendered some control of the ball in return during the opening half.

And generally speaking at Hampden, they managed to limit their opponents in open play. Rangers conceded just 0.38xG before the opener.

However, unlike in the 2-2 draw earlier this year, they were unable to consistently spring these attacks. In the simplest of terms, Rangers’ distribution when they looked to play forward led to the game’s two defining moments.

The opener originated from the Ibrox outfit winning the ball at the edge of the area before struggling to play through a congested centre. This eventually allowed Celtic to attack a momentarily uncoordinated defence.

In the below frames, you can see Fashion Sakala attempting to move the ball forwards after Daizen Maeda’s cross is intercepted. However, he’s crowded out and eventually possession is lost.

Callum McGregor can be seen here pointing at Carl Starfelt to play backwards which, in turn, ushers Rangers forwards and creates space in the midfield, with only three pressing against five as Greg Taylor is picked out on the left.

Celtic move the ball left before working it back into the centre, where McGregor is free. Notice the space between Rangers’ front three and midfield three, which has been stretched.

READ MORE: Why Michael Beale's Rangers midfield decision didn't add up

Although he doesn’t get on the ball in this scenario, McGregor’s presence attracts John Lundstram and Malik Tillman towards the ball. Taylor notices the space this creates on the left and starts his run forwards.

However, Celtic don’t play the ball into the left-back's feet initially. Aaron Mooy has moved over from the right while Glen Kamara remains on that side of the pitch.

This third-man combination allows Taylor room because James Tavernier is pulled inside by Maeda’s movement.

It looks bad on Lundstram but really, this goal wasn’t the consequence of one individual error but many. Rangers were pulled out of shape and then subsequently tried to play catch up.

With Mooy on the ball, Connor Goldson steps out of the back four but this allows Maeda to get ahead of him. Ben Davies is therefore left two-vs-one in the middle and Kyogo scores after running in behind the Englishman.

The second goal was similar in many ways. After Tavernier regains possession, his pass to Ryan Kent is short and the attacker waits on the ball, allowing Starfelt to intercept.

Again, this gives Celtic an opportunity to attack Rangers while their structure is disorganised.

McGregor receives from Mooy, darts through the centre and again picks out the Australian, who has drifted over to the left and picked up a dangerous position once more in front of the Rangers defence.

From there, Reo Hatate’s run on the blindside of Goldson allows him to find Kyogo, who can again finish running between Davies and Borna Barisic.

Rangers lost this cup final for multiple reasons. Beale faced criticism after the match for his team selection and multiple individuals within the starting 11 have now simply suffered too many Old Firm defeats to not require new players in the team.

Tactically, Celtic's speed in two moments after Rangers failed to build attacks allowed them to establish a lead that was never recovered.