Attendance 58,935
It was a bitter blow for the Ibrox men to take –
having competed so well throughout the game, they were
certainly worth at the very least a draw.
Manager Alex McLeish made two changes from Wednesday
night with Alan Hutton and Alex Rae replacing Stephen
Hughes and Peter Lovenkrands. Making a welcome return
for the visitors, albeit on the bench, was Chris
Burke. Juninho made his debut for Celtic, with Henri
Camara on from the start for the first time.
Amidst the customary terrorist flags representing the
IRA, ETA, the PLO etc fluttered one ‘hammer and
sickle’ from the Soviet Union. Apparently the sad,
deranged and uneducated individual waving it was
unaware that the USSR ceased to exist all of fourteen
years ago.
Rangers almost made a sensational early breakthrough
when Dado Prso went clear on a Dragan Mladenovic pass
in 45 seconds only to be crowded out.
Celtic soon threatened – Bobo Balde’s header at the
back post from a fifth minute Alan Thompson free-kick
being scrambled clear.
The first real chance of what was turning out to be a
tight game arrived in 24 minutes when Henri Camara
broke through off a Thompson pass only to shoot wide.
Seven minutes later at the other end Shota Arveladze’s
25-yard effort was just wide, yet within sixty seconds
Juninho imposed himself for the first time, his shot
being deflected wide, but leading to a mini flare-up
with the ‘Gers defence.
The underlying tension of the occasion was fully
illustrated in 43 minutes when Alex Rae committed his
first foul of the afternoon, an innocuous tackle on
Stilian Petrov, yet Referee Hugh Dallas was
immediately surrounded by Celtic players demanding he
yellow-card the Ranger. Fortunately this official at
least is experienced enough to ignore such
unprofessional conduct.
The half ended goalless – but not before Juninho had
almost opened the scoring with a chip over the
out-of-position Stefan Klos after his initial run and
shot had been blocked.
Lovenkrands replaced Arveladze in 52 minutes, and
within three minutes the Dane had an opportunity to
open the scoring following a one-two with Nacho Novo
only to slice his effort over the bar.
John Hartson tested Klos with a header from a Thompson
corner on the hour, but the Ibrox Captain was equal to
the task.
Ten minutes later a bizarre incident saw the ball out
of play with Novo down injured. The Rangers’ throw was
about to be played to a free Celtic player when home
substitute Ross Wallace went in with a dangerously
high tackle on Hutton, occasioning the referee to
award a free-kick to the visitors.
Dado Prso almost opened the scoring in 71 minutes when
David Marshall blocked his turn and shot from a
Lovenkrands pass.
The game was balanced on a knife-edge, and five
minutes later Balde’s header from a Thompson free-kick
was just wide of the target.
The deadlock was broken in 84 minutes when a
penetrating run down the right by Didier Agathe saw
his cross met by Thompson who rifled the ball home off
the underside of the bar.
Rangers attempted to respond immediately – Rae going
through following a one-two with Lovenkrands only to
shoot across the face of goal.
Steven Thompson replaced Mladenovic as the Light Blues
threw men forward – a Ricksen corner in 87 minutes
breaking to Novo who shot wide.
In the dying seconds Prso’s 25-yard shot flew inches
wide, and the final whistle sounded on an undeserved
loss for Rangers.
Alex McLeish afterwards lamented:
“That was hard to take – we worked hard and weathered
the Celtic storm, it took an inspirational goal to win
the game. The team is on the right lines, we can take
loads of positives from the ninety minutes. We have a
different type of character from last season.”
CELTIC Marshall; Balde, Varga, McNamara; Agathe,
Lennon, Petrov, Juninho (Valgaeren 85), Thompson;
Hartson (Sylla 83), Camara (Wallace 63)
UNUSED SUBS Douglas, Pearson, McGeady, Cuthbert
RANGERS Klos; Hutton, Boumsong, Moore, Vignal;
Arveladze, Ricksen, Mladenovic, A. Rae, Prso; Novo
UNUSED SUBS Andrews, G. Smith, Burke, McCormack,
Hughes
REFEREE Hugh Dallas