Attendance 50,320
A dramatic last-minute winner from substitute Maurice Edu gave Rangers a priceless 1-0 win over Celtic at Ibrox Stadium this afternoon - and represents a major step towards the retention of the Championship, reopening a ten-point gap in the title race.
There had been much speculation - for a variety of reasons - over both line-ups, but in fact both Allan McGregor and Robbie Keane were in the respective line-ups. Rangers Manager Walter Smith made five changes from the Scottish Cup with Steven Whittaker, Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch, Kevin Thomson and Kenny Miller replacing Kirk Broadfoot, Steven Smith, Steven Naismith, Maurice Edu and Nacho Novo.
Shamefully a one-minute silence in memory of former Rangers goalkeeper Gerry Neef was abused by the rabble in the Broomloan Road Stand - underlining that these people are scum who do not deserve to belong in any decent society.
As to the game itself Celtic almost got off to the perfect start in just 35 seconds when Keane's shot from a Marc-Antoine Fortune cutback was held by McGregor.
Three minutes later Kris Boyd was through on a Steve Davis pass, rounding visiting goalkeeper Artur Boruc before firing into the side-net from a tight angle.
There was an early yellow card when Madjid Bougherra was booked for an innocuous foul on Keane - Referee Dougie McDonald obviously deciding to impose his authority on the game right at the beginning.
Two minutes later another yellow card was produced - this time to Fortune for deliberate handball.
Fortune was fortunate to remain on the park in nineteen minutes when he flattened Lee McCulloch off the ball. Incredibly the referee awarded a foul but took no further action.
The Ranger would take no further part in the game - eventually limping off six minutes later to be replaced by Maurice Edu. Thus Celtic had effectively removed one of Rangers' most effective players.
Edu almost made an instant impact - firing a low shot into the net from the edge of the box in 27 minutes only for Dougie McDonald to disallow it for handball against Miller.
Sixty seconds later a long ball from Boyd found Miller racing clear only to see his drive from the edge of the area blocked by Boruc.
Keane again threatened in 35 minutes when his snap-shot was beaten away by McGregor when the ball broke to him after Diomansy Kamara's penetrating run had been blocked by Bougherra.
Celtic were ending the half in the ascendancy - and Fortune should have done better just before the interval when he dragged his shot wide after forcing his way past David Weir and Bougherra on the edge of the box.
The half ended goalless - but during the break the vermin in the visiting end once more disgraced themselves, on this occasion flaunting an Argentinian flag when war hero Simon Weston was presented to the crowd.
It was the Ibrox men who restarted on the offensive with Davis feeding Boyd in 48 minutes, the striker's stabbed shot producing an instinctive save from Boruc.
Seven minutes later Davis again broke forward on the counter-attack, his deep run ending with a shot saved by Boruc.
Rangers were now on top - and Scott Brown, the Celtic captain, clearly realised this when, following an innocuous trip by Bougherra on Keane, he chased the referee demanding that the defender receive a second yellow card and consequent red. It was cheating, pure and simple.
Ironically it was Brown himself who received a deserved straight red card in 65 minutes when he head-butted Kyle Lafferty in the chest. It was the only possible decision for Dougie McDonald to make - and justice had been done…
Three minutes later Novo replaced Lafferty to a great ovation.
Celtic should have been reduced to nine men in 73 minutes when substitute Ki Sung Yeung committed an absolutely shocking foul on Boyd, almost cutting him in half with a chest-high tackle. On this occasion however the referee bottled his decision and settled for yellow.
The Champions were imposing themselves more and more as they pressed for a breakthrough - and Edu came close in 82 minutes when he shot wide from a Papac cross.
Celtic's lack of sportsmanship was shamefully exposed five minutes later when with Davis breaking free towards Boruc's goal Dougie McDonald stopped play to allow treatment for the grounded Danny N'Guemo. When play resumed Kamara booted the ball right into the corner and out of play - thus putting the home defence under pressure at the subsequent throw-in. Once again it was blatant cheating…
With time running out Papac almost notched the winner in 89 minutes when his shot from a Boyd lay-off was turned wide by Boruc.
There would be no denying the Light Blues however - and a deserved goal duly came in the dying seconds when from a Novo corner both Bougherra and Boyd saw shots blocked before Edu forced the ball over the line.
It was a victory for both football and sportsmanship - and great were the celebrations in the home dug-out and amongst the Light Blue legions in the stands.
Afterwards a delighted Walter Smith reflected:
"I thought we'd never score. We played very well in the second-half and had far more of the pressure. Celtic defended very well, especially late on. It was a game of few goalscoring opportunities - the main thing was to win."
Smith also addressed the midweek refereeing controversy:
"I thought the referee handled the game well under totally unfair circumstances. It would have been nice if the Celtic spokesman had come out of the closet rather than speaking anonymously."
RANGERS McGregor; Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Papac; Davis, McCulloch (Edu 25), Thomson, Lafferty (Novo 69); Miller, Boyd
UNUSED SUBS Alexander, Beasley, Little, Wilson, Fleck
CELTIC Boruc; Hinkel, Thompson, Rogne (O'Dea 25), Braafheid; McGeady (Samaras 60), Brown, N'Guemo, Kamara; Fortune (Sung Yueng 68), Keane
UNUSED SUBS Zaluska, Wilson, Rasmussen, Zhi
REFEREE Dougie McDonald