Celtic 1 (Larsson 52) Rangers 0
Attendance 58,735
The defeat will be hard to take for Manager Alex
McLeish and the Ibrox legions, as the full extent of
the consequences of the financial mismanagement came
home to roost.
Alex McLeish made no fewer than five changes from the
Tannadice debacle. Henning Berg, the subject of such
controversy in recent days, was rightly fielded
alongside incomers Stephen Hughes, Gavin Rae, Shota
Arveladze and Peter Lovenkrands to the exclusion of
Emerson, Christian Nerlinger, Nuno Capucho, Ronald De
Boer and Michael Mols.
The game kicked off in the usual intimidating, hostile
atmosphere that is Celtic Park – and the atmosphere
was soon transmitted to the players when Fernando
Ricksen and Alan Thompson clashed on the touchline in
eight minutes.
Five minutes later Gavin Rae had a half-chance when
the ball broke to him following a Mikel Arteta corner
only to balloon his shot from the edge of the box over
the bar.
Stephen Pearson, playing in his first ‘Old Firm’ game,
had a driving run in eighteen minutes that carried him
into the heart of the visitors’ defence before being
crowded out, then four minutes later, as Celtic began
to impose the first sustained pressure of the game,
Stanislav Varga played a one-two with Stilian Petrov
before firing well over from 25 yards.
Rangers suffered a major injury blow in 35 minutes
when Ronald De Boer replaced Mikel Arteta, suffering
from what appeared to be a shoulder injury.
Two minutes later a swift Celtic counter-attack almost
paid dividends when Henrik Larsson shot over after
Petrov’s shot had been blocked.
It was the Parkhead men who looked the likelier to
open the scoring as the interval approached, Bobo
Balde’s header from a Thompson cross being just wide,
then Larsson’s header from a Thompson corner striking
the outside of the post.
Rangers would have had every reason to be pleased with
their first-half showing, yet seven minutes after the
restart yet another set-piece led to the opening goal
when a Thompson free-kick, fisted out by Stefan Klos,
saw efforts by both Pearson and Joos Valgaeren blocked
before Larsson’s volley found the net.
Rangers tried to respond immediately – Rae firing over
from an Arveladze pass in 62 minutes, yet the home
side continued to look the more dangerous – Thompson
testing Klos six minutes later with the aid of a
deflection from a 25-yard free-kick.
Celtic substitute Craig Beattie might have sealed the
win in 79 minutes when – released by Neil Lennon – he
saw his effort deflected wide by Klos.
With the minutes ticking away, Rangers made a final
effort to secure a replay – Michael Ball seeing his
25-yard drive held by Klos in 89 minutes, then in the
last seconds a Steven Thompson cross was laid back by
Arveladze into the path of Gavin Rae who, with the
goal at his mercy, sliced his shot wide of the target.
The final whistle soon afterwards brought an end to a
game in which Rangers might well have secured a
replay.
Alex McLeish afterwards summarised:
“Our heads should be up after today. We showed
commitment. The rest of the season will be about the
need to salvage pride. Certain players have had a
terrible time with injury, and we have not been able
to gather momentum. We need to show more quality up
front. We deserved to take something from the game. We
need to build on today’s effort, commitment and
momentum.”
On the subject of Henning Berg, McLeish was fulsome in
his praise:
“Henning gave a towering performance today. I had no
problem selecting him – I always put Rangers first.”
Significantly, when asked about the players omitted
today, the Rangers’ Manager observed:
“It will be difficult for the players who were dropped
to come back. They are still Rangers’ players, but we
need to build on the momentum of today.”
CELTIC Douglas; McNamara, Varga, Balde, Valgaeren
(Kennedy 84); Agathe, Lennon, Pearson (Beattie 56
{Sylla 90}), Thompson; Larsson, Petrov
UNUSED SUBS Marshall, Lambert
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, F. De Boer, Moore, Berg, Ball;
Rae, Arteta (R. De Boer 35), Hughes (Thompson 65);
Arveladze, Lovenkrands
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Khizanishvili, Ross
REFEREE Hugh Dallas
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