Rangers 2 (Weir 16, Cousin 28)
Attendance 58,662
Rangers Manager Walter Smith made two changes from
Thursday with Barry Ferguson and Daniel Cousin
replacing the suspended Carlos Cuellar and Jean-Claude
Darcheville against a Celtic side unchanged from the
last 'Old Firm' clash eleven days earlier.
The visitors made a positive start inside the first
minute - Steve Davis' corner finding Cousin at the far
post, his overhead kick being cleared off the line by
Lee Naylor.
Two minutes later however at the other end Jan
Vennegoor of Hesselink's head-flick found Scott
McDonald in a clearly offside position. Linesman Tom
Murphy kept his flag down and the Australian striker
went on to open the scoring.
Rangers came right back at their opponents - Cousin's
header from a Sasa Papac free-kick slipping inches
wide in twelve minutes.
Within four minutes the scores were level - David Weir
heading home a Davis corner.
Rangers had a strong penalty claim in twenty minutes
when Ferguson's shot from the edge of the box was
blocked by Gary Caldwell's hand. Referee Craig Thomson
appeared to put his whistle to his mouth only to
change his mind at the last minute, obviously aware
that officials who give decisions against Celtic are
liable to have their person, family or property
attacked.
Three minutes later Shunsuke Nakamura saw a vicious
twenty-yard wide-angled free-kick fisted clear by Neil
Alexander.
Rangers took the lead in 28 minutes when Cousin's
near-post header from another Davis corner found the
back of the net via the underside of the bar.
The visitors were in command, playing open, attacking
football that belied the criticism that they were a
defensive outfit.
Paul Hartley was yellow-carded in 33 minutes for a
foul on Ferguson, the former Hearts player obviously
targeting the Rangers captain as the opposition
danger man in much the same way as he had crippled Lee
McCulloch in the last game.
The scores were level before the interval - McDonald
turning on an Aiden McGeady cross to curl the ball
into the top corner of the net with the aid of a
deflection from Christian Dailly.
It had been an engrossing, all-action first-half -
but the restart opened in bitter recrimination when
McGeady tripped Ferguson and then compounded his
offense by refusing to shake hands with the Ibrox
captain.
Two minutes later McDonald, through on goal, had the
opportunity to become the first Celtic player since
Harry Hood in 1973 to score a hat-trick in an 'Old
Firm' fixture, only to unselfishly square the ball to
Jan Vennegor of Hesselink - the Dutch striker being
denied by a timely interception from Kirk Broadfoot.
Rangers suffered a severe blow in fifty minutes when
Weir limped off with a groin strain, to be replaced by
Amdy Faye, making his first appearance in Light Blue
since last October.
Faye went into central defence - but the loss of the
outstanding Weir was a serious blow to the Ibrox men.
Craig Thomson had another important contribution to
make, failing to show Vennegoor of Hesselink a red
card in 58 minutes for a quite disgraceful kick in the
chest of Faye. The Dutchman got off with a yellow, as
indeed he had done on 16 April when he had run 25
yards to assault Nacho Novo.
Midway through the second-half Novo was inches wide
with a volley from a Cousin cross - and that miss was
to prove crucial to the outcome of the game, for
within sixty seconds Celtic were awarded a penalty for
Kirk Broadfoot's foul on McDonald. There may have been
an infringement - but it was outside the box.
Barry Robson duly converted the spot-kick - and almost
made it a double seven minutes later when his
inswinging corner struck the outside of the post.
Steven Whittaker was yellow-carded for a foul on Lee
Naylor in eighty minutes, his first offence of the
game, and when in injury time tiredness more than
anything caused him to foul Nakamura he was
shown a second yellow and subsequent red.
The final whistle soon after signalled that the title
race is still very much alive - although Rangers still
hold the advantage, and afterwards Walter Smith
reflected:
"We had the better of the opening half-hour although
Celtic pinned us back in the closing stages of the
first-half. There wasn't much between the teams in the
second-half. We lost bad goals defensively. There was
a physical aspect to the game - Jan Vennegoor of
Hesselink's challenge on Amdy Faye deserved more than
a yellow card."
In the final analysis a combination of injuries,
suspension and the grossly unfair fixture scheduling
cost Rangers dear - together with a whole host of
refereeing decisions that went the way of the home
side.
Incidentally at the final whistle Celtic goalkeeper
Artur Boruc displayed a 'God Bless The Pope'
tee-shirt, demonstrating that he is both a bigot and a
headbanger with no class whatsoever.
CELTIC Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus (O'Dea 66),
Naylor; Nakamura, Hartley (S. Brown 82), Robson,
McGeady; Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 67), McDonald
UNUSED SUBS M. Brown, Caddis, Donati, Wilson
RANGERS Alexander; Broadfoot, Dailly, Weir (Faye 50),
Papac; Novo, Ferguson, Hemdani (Darcheville 78),
Davis, Whittaker; Cousin
UNUSED SUBS G. Smith, Boyd, Lennon, McMillan, Fleck
REFEREE Craig Thomson