It was very much a game of two halves, with Celtic
well on top in the first half, Rangers the second.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from Thursday
with Allan McGregor, Nacho Novo and Filip Sebo
replacing Stefan Klos, Chris Burke and Kris Boyd
against a Celtic side that almost uniquely fielded two
former Rangers players in an 'Old Firm' fixture -
namely Stephen Pressley and Kenny Miller with a third,
Mark Brown, on the substitutes bench.
In a previous life Walter Smith won nine out of
fifteen fixtures at Celtic Park, chalking up a success
rate of 70%.
Celtic made the running from the opening seconds - and
it was Miller who had the first clear scoring
opportunity in three minutes when Mark Wilson's long
ball was flicked on by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink only
for the former Ranger to lob well over the bar.
Seven minutes later an Aidan McGeady free-kick was met
by Evander Sno whose drive across the face of goal
only just evaded the inrushing Pressley.
Miller again squandered a reasonable oportunity in
twelve minutes when he fired over after Lee Naylor's
throw-in had been laid into his path by Vennegoor of
Hesselink.
Nine minutes later McGeady's 22-yard drive whistled
inches wide as the home side totally dominated the
play.
All-action Sebo almost justified his surprise
selection in 27 minutes with a shot on the turn from a
Kevin Thomson pass that was held by Artur Boruc.
Celtic continued to enjoy the lion's share of
possession however - Shunsuke Nakamura playing a
one-two with Miller two minutes later before seeing
his twenty-yard shot deflected over.
It was one-way traffic - McGeady seeing his
thirty-yarder from an Evander Sno pass beaten away by
McGregor in 32 minutes, then sixty seconds later
Nakamura's 25-yard free-kick whistled over.
Somehow Rangers survived to the interval - but the
second-half would prove to be a different story
entirely.
Celtic restarted on the offensive - Sno's header from
a Nakamura header two minutes in being too high.
The opening goal when it arrived in 49 minutes
astonishingly came at the other end - a Charlie Adam
corner leading to a bout of head tennis involving both
David Weir and Sebo before Ehiogu scored with a
spectacular overhead kick.
It was Rangers' first goal at Celtic Park for fully 25
months - and suddenly it was the Ibrox men who were
dictating the flow of play.
Adam almost made it 2-0 in 62 minutes when his 25-yard
free-kick was fumbled by Boruc, then two minutes later
another cleverly-worked free-kick saw Charlie slide
the ball to Barry Ferguson who flicked it on to Novo
whose shot was held by Boruc.
Dado Prso replaced Sebo in 73 minutes as Rangers went
in search of a killer second goal, their domination of
the play being just as absolute as had the home side's
before the interval.
Celtic however were not conceding anything - McGeady's
eighteen-yard shot being held by McGregor in 78
minutes, then five minutes later substitute Derek
Riordan shot from a McGeady cutback was deflected
wide.
Novo almost sealed the win in 84minutes when through
on a Prso flick only for Boruc to deflect his effort
wide.
The final whistle produced great celebrations from the
Light Blue legions who rejoiced in the superb football
that their team had displayed during the second-half
with David Weir and Ugo Ehiogu outstanding in central
defence, as was Brahim Hemdani in midfield.
Meanwhile as the celebrations went on Celtic captain
Neil Lennon demonstrated his sporting nature once
again when he took exception to the criticism he was
receiving from one of HIS OWN fans behind the
technical area - flinging a bottle of water at the
supporter that crashed off the roof of the dugout.
Afterwards a contented Walter Smith reflected:
"I was delighted with the win. Celtic started really
well - we rode our luck during the first 25 minutes,
but settled down well thereafter. The whole team
played well. Not many teams come here and win."
CELTIC Boruc; Wilson, McManus, Pressley (O'Dea 77),
Naylor; Nakamura, Lennon, Sno (Riordan 80), McGeady;
Vennegoor of Hesselink, Miller (Jarosik 73)
UNUSED SUBS Brown, Beattie, Doumbe, Caldwell
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Weir, Ehiogu, Murray; Novo
(Rae 90), Hemdani, Ferguson, Thomson, Adam; Sebo (Prso
73)
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Boyd, Papac, McMillan, Furman
REFEREE Stuart Dougal
Attendance 59,425