Chris Sutton was critical of Celtic’s performance at Ibrox on Sunday, with his former side losing 3-0 to Rangers.
Martin O’Neill’s side were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the Carabao Cup after a dismal performance against their bitter rivals, with just one shot on goal throughout the game.
The manager has since been criticized for his squad selection and failure to strengthen the midfield during the summer transfer window, with Callum McGregor and Micah Ball getting the nod in the center of the park today.
Sebastian Tounekti was also criticized by journalist John McGinley for failing to make any significant impact before being replaced by Haissem Hassan at half-time.
Indeed, the Tunisian hasn’t really hit the ground running since joining the 56-time Scottish champions last year, scoring just five goals in 45 games in 2025-26.
Sebastian Tunecti’s statistics for the 2025-26 season | Number of appearances | Target |
scottish premier league | No. 27 | 2 |
League Cup | 3 | 1 |
FA Cup | 5 | 2 |
european league | 10 | 0 |
Before heading to Ibrox, O’Neal The winger spoke highly of him, saying: “He’s very good on the edge of the box. What I like about him is he can play both ends.
“There’s a bit of frustration at times, but there’s always a bit of frustration for the wide players who may concede the ball once or twice. The most important thing to tell the wide players is that if they can get past people, keep doing it.”
However, he was clearly not happy with the forward’s performance as he replaced him at half-time with Chris Sutton criticizing his performance.
Chris Sutton takes a dig at Sebastian Tounekti
Take X during the game, Sutton explain: “Rangers have attacked Celtic… the question is whether they can last 90 minutes. Hassan has to come in and exploit the huge space on the Celtic right wing/Rangers left wing… Johnstone is nervous. The midfield has been bullied so far. Tunecti has been playing back. I hope Celtic can respond.”
Despite a disappointing performance, Celtic remain top of the Scottish Premiership and five points ahead of their arch-rivals with wins in their first six games.
However, with the Hoops facing Rangers again next week, they will need to put in a bigger performance and O’Neill hopes the game at Parkhead will work in his side’s favour.