Petrov: Old Firm dominance is receding
Celtic star Stilian Petrov expects the Old Firm to drop many more points against the so-called weaker sides in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.
Hoops supporters celebrated Rangers’ shock 1-1 draw at Falkirk more than they did their own home victory over Aberdeen yesterday.
But the midfielder has warned them not to get too carried away about the three-point advantage they hold over their arch rivals.
Petrov said: “I am not surprised that Rangers failed to beat Falkirk.
“Every game is hard and teams are starting to get nearer us and more confident against us.
“Teams believe they can beat ourselves and we need to work harder against these teams. All the games are going to be hard and sides will take points off us.”
Maciej Zurawski produced two moments of magic as Celtic beat the Pittodrie side to keep the pressure on leaders Hearts.
The Poland international scored his third goal in two games with an emphatic strike before picking out Petrov with a great ball in the area for his second-half goal.
After a slow start Zurawski is beginning to repay the faith showed in him by manager Gordon Strachan but his team-mate expects him to get even better.
“There is pressure on him and the other foreign lads and I know how difficult the language barrier can be,” added Petrov.
“It was a very good first goal and Maciej has worked hard on his game. He is scoring goals and playing well.
“He linked up really well with John Hartson for his goal and that partnership will get better and so will Maciej.
“He is one of the best players in training and he is growing in confidence in time.”
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood apologised to his own fans but he was baffled to find an explanation for his side’s poor performance.
Calderwood said: “I am very disappointed.
“We came here with high hopes after three great games with them last season but we never reached that calibre which was strange.
“It’s a great stadium to play football but we never created a good chance and we have players that can create things.
“Defensively we were quite comfortable but we never believed we could beat them. We brought a great crowd with us but we let them down with the performance.
“At half-time their body language wasn’t right. I don’t know what it was but I will find out in the week.
“The people that saw us last year knew we are better than that. Our form away from home is giving me a bit of concern.”
Kevin McNaughton gave Calderwood even more to worry about after suffering a recurrence of his knee injury.
The Aberdeen boss added: “It’s the knee injury he’s had before. He’s suffered a wee bit of a recurrence but hopefully it’s not too serious.”
