Rangers 1 (Novo 54)
Attendance 58,964
The late drama came after Rangers had played the last
25 minutes with ten men, Carlos Cuellar having been
red-carded for handball on the goal-line - and was the
Light Blues' first domestic defeat in more than five
months.
Tonight's 'Old Firm' game should of course have been
played on 2 January had Celtic not quite shamefully
walked over the grave of Phil O'Donnell in requesting
the postponement of the traditional Ne'erday fixture
for a player who had been booed by the self-styled
"greatest fans in the world" on his last appearance at
Celtic Park.
Just to make the situation even more cynical, Celtic
Boss Gordon Strachan fielded both Shunsuke Nakamura
and Aidan McGeady, neither of whom would have been
available to play on the original date - and both
played a major part in the home win. Clearly
there are no morals in Parkhead.
Rangers Manager Walter Smith made six changes from
Firhill with Kirk Broadfoot, Sasa Papac, Barry
Ferguson, Steve Davis, Lee McCulloch and Jean-Claude
Darcheville replacing Steven Smith, Chris Burke,
Steven Naismith, Kris Boyd, Nacho Novo and the
suspended Kevin Thomson.
The game had barely got underway when Barry Robson
went right through Christian Dailly inside thirty
seconds. The Ranger reacted angrily and there can be
little doubt that Referee Kenny Clark might have taken
more action against the Celt than simply award a foul.
The first opening fell to the home side in nine
minutes when Vennegoor of Hesselink was through on a
Shunsuke Nakamura pass only to be blocked by the
outrushing Allan McGregor.
Four minutes later Paul Hartley was yellow-carded for
a late and high challenge on Lee McCulloch - but quite
frankly the card might well have been of a different
hue so late was the tackle.
A Robson corner to the far post in eighteen minutes
saw Stephen McManus head the ball back across the face
of goal where Steven Whittaker cleared.
Sixty seconds later the opening goal arrived in
spectacular fashion when Nakamura sent a swerving
thirty-yarder into the net, the swerve of the ball
beating McGregor.
Scott McDonald almost added a second in 34 minutes
with an angled drive following a Darcheville error -
but the ball was beaten out by McGregor.
Rangers had barely threatened throughout the
first-half, but Darcheville saw his shot from a Steve
Davis pass deflected wide two minutes before the
interval, his boot flying behind the goal.
Both sides made changes at the interval - Novo
replacing Broadfoot and Mark Wilson substituting for
Lee Naylor.
Vennegoor of Hesselink was yellow carded for a vicious
tackle from behind on the Ibrox substitute in 51
minutes - but this was one that surely merited red.
Three minutes later the scores were levelled when
Whittaker's pass was volleyed home by Novo.
The game was now back in the melting pot, and
Vennegoor of Hesselink might have done better than
head wide from Andrius Hinkel's headed cross in 63
minutes.
Six minutes later Rangers were reduced to ten men when
Cuellar was red-carded for fisting a Nakamura drive
onto and over the bar - but McGregor kept his side on
level terms by saving Scott McDonald's penalty, then
two minutes later the Australian striker headed over
from a Wilson cross.
Georgios Samaras came on for Celtic in 74 minutes,
replacing Robson - a decision that was loudly and
roundly booed by the home fans.
Two minutes later Rangers suffered another blow when
McGregor, suffering an ankle injury, limped off to be
replaced by Neil Alexander.
Shamefully the Ibrox club doctor, whilst treating the
stricken goalkeeper, was struck by a missile thrown
from the crowd. One wonders if the police will have
any more luck in tracing the miscreant who threw the
missile than they had three years ago when Fernando
Ricksen was similarly hit…?
Celtic continued to press for the winner - Samaras
heading wide from a McGeady cross in 84 minutes.
With time running out it looked as if ten Ibrox heroes
had secured a magnificent result against the odds, yet
five minutes of injury time provided Celtic with the
added impetus to strike deep into that added time - a
Gary Caldwell cross being nodded on by McDonald for
Vennegoor of Hesselink to nod home.
Even then Rangers had one last throw of the dice and
were denied a clear penalty when Whittaker's long
throw saw McManus clearly impede substitute Daniel
Cousin.
At the final whistle Celtic proved that they are as
bad at winning as they are at losing, taunting their
opponents with Gary Caldwell throwing a punch at David
Weir.
Afterwards Walter Smith was positive in his analysis of
his first 'Old Firm' defeat in ten years:
"Celtic started better and deserved their lead at the
interval. We started the second-half better, but the
ordering-off changed the game. We restricted Celtic to
few goalscoring opportunities. There's lots of
football still to be played."
The fact remains that the league title is still in
Rangers' own hands.
CELTIC Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor
(Wilson 45); Nakamura, Hartley, Robson (Samaras 74),
McGeady; Vennegoor of Hesselink, McDonald
UNUSED SUBS M. Brown, McGowan, Sno, Donati, Balde
RANGERS McGregor (Alexander 76); Broadfoot (Novo 45),
Cuellar, Weir, Papac; Whittaker, Ferguson, Dailly,
Davis, McCulloch; Darcheville (Darcheville 82)
UNUSED SUBS Boyd, Naismith, Furman, McMillan
REFEREE Kenny Clark