That’s it for today’s blog. I’ll leave you with Ewan Murray’s match report from Celtic Park. Thanks for your company - bye!
55 – After his club celebrated their 55th Scottish top-flight title earlier this month, Alfredo Morelos’ equaliser is his 55th league goal for Rangers and his very first against Celtic. Poetic. pic.twitter.com/dEwk8gNQky
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 21, 2021
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Full time: Celtic 1-1 Rangers
Peeeeeeep peeeeeeep! Rangers stay unbeaten after a relatively quiet Old Firm derby. Celtic had more possession and clearer chances, but there wasn’t a huge amount in it. Mohamed Elyounoussi and Alfredo Morelos scored with first-half headers, and that’s all there is to say.
92 min Barisic’s corner is headed over by the stopping Goldson. It was a tricky chance, one he might have been better trying to take on the volley.
90 min Three minutes of added time. Rangers are the team pushing for a winner.
88 min Two more Celtic substitutions: Leigh Griffiths and Ismaila Soro replace Brown and Edouard.
88 min A corner for Rangers, who have found a second wind from somewhere. Barisic’s outswinger finds Goldson near the penalty spot; his looping header drifts just wide of the near post. Bain had it covered.
87 min Rangers almost take the lead with a farcical goal! Welsh played the ball back to Bain, who hoofed his clearance straight at Welsh. The ball ricocheted towards goal, hit Roofe on the back and fell kindly for Bain. That could have gone anywhere.
86 min Kenny’s dangerous low cross from the right is just missed the lunging Edouard at the far post.
85 min A Celtic change: Tom Rogic replaces the impressive Mohamed Elyounoussi.
84 min After a long spell of Rangers possession, probably their best of the half, Patterson swings a cross to the far post. Roofe’s downward header is blocked by Welsh and he can’t get to the rebound.
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82 min Laxalt’s cross is headed away to the edge of the area by Helander. Kenny runs onto it and crunches a half-volley that is comfortably saved by McGregor.
81 min The match is threatening to peter out, with both teams - Rangers, certainly - reluctant to risk defeat in pursuit of victory.
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78 min And now a change for Celtic: James Forrest comes on for David Turnbull.
77 min A double change for Rangers: Scott Wright and Kemar Roofe replace Joe Aribo and the goalscorer Alfredo Morelos, who growls at someone as he walks off.
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75 min Rangers are starting to look tired, which is understandable given the events of Thursday night. Celtic haven’t played for a fortnight, which is a big advantage.
72 min Christie fires an excellent through ball towards Turnbull. He gallops into the area, with Davis tracking him all the way, and drives a low shot that is kicked behind by McGregor. The corner is headed onto the roof the net by Edouard, under a lot of pressure from Aribo.
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69 min Celtic are starting to pin Rangers back. They will feel that, on the balance of play, they deserve to end Rangers’ long unbeaten run. They’ll also know that deserve has nothing to do with it.
67 min Barisic’s outswinger is headed away by Ajer.
67 min A loose ball sits up nicely for Davis, 20 yards out. He cuts across a fierce strike that hits Elyounoussi and flies behind for a corner.
66 min Laxalt is booked for introducing Morelos to the grass.
65 min Another Rangers change: Scott Arfield replaces Ianis Hagi, who had a quiet game apart from one lovely pass to Kent in the first half. Arfield goes into midfield and Aribo moves to the right.
64 min This is a good spell for Celtic, who win another corner when Christie’s shot is blocked by Goldson. Turnbull’s deep corner comes to nothing, with Ajer penalised for fouling someone.
63 min Edouard cleverly slips Goldson, who recovers well to concede a corner. Turnbull’s corner bounces around the Rangers area and is cleared.
61 min Morelos is booked for clattering Scott Brown.
58 min The game is much more even than it was in the first half. McGregor’s flat cross from the left is headed onto the roof of the net by the backpedalling Elyounoussi; it wasn’t much of a chance.
56 min Leon Balogun, who has had a tricky afternoon at right back, is replaced by Nathan Patterson.
54 min Scott Brown is booked for... as if you need to know the details.
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52 min: Good save from McGregor! Edouard has a pop from distance, and McGregor springts to his right to push it away. He’s had a good game.
51 min Balogun’s cross somehow finds its way through to Morelos, who miscontrols it at the far post. That was a really good chance, or it would have been had his first touch been better.
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49 min Laxalt’s long-range shot hits Davis and spins behind for a corner. Turnbull swings it out towards Welsh, who heads onto the roof of the net from 10 yards. That was half a chance.
48 min “I’ve supported Rangers since I was born,” says Karl Parkyn. “Can I congratulate them on the league title?”
You sure can, though I don’t know whether they’ll be reading.
46 min Peep peep! Rangers begin the second half.
It’s the latest Mac Millings XI!
“In honour of today’s glorified training exercise,” writes Mac, “please allow me to present my all-time laid-back XI:
- Jean-Marie Pfaff About
- Diego Relaxalt
- Javier Tranquillo
- Restrainedrian Heath
- Morten Gamst Pedestrian
- Eberechi Easy
- Valium Brady
- Subdued Bellingham
- Marc Sobermars
- Low-key Rémy
- Chillian
Half time: Celtic 1-1 Rangers
Peep peep! It’s all square at half-time. Celtic were the better team, and took a deserved lead through a fine goal from Mohamed Elyounoussi. But that woke Rangers up and Alfredo Morelos brought them level with his first goal against Celtic.
44 min: Good save from McGregor! Turnbull’s deep corner from the left is headed down by the unmarked Elyounoussi, and McGregor improvises to shovel it around the post.
42 min: Great effort from Kent! Hagi flights a long pass towards Kent, on the left side of the area. He watches the ball over his shoulder and hits a blistering volley that is well saved by Bain, diving to his left. After a slow start, this is much more like it.
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41 min: Chance for Edouard! Celtic almost go ahead again. Ajer fies an angled pass into Edouard on the edge of the D. He lets it run to Elyounoussi, who guides a superb first-time pass back towards Edouard in the area. Helander comes across and Edouard hits a low shot that slithers through the legs of McGregor but doesn’t have enough power to go over the line. McGregor turns round and pounces on the ball.
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40 min That goal, it’s fair to say, was somewhat against the run of play. And I’m sure all connected with Rangers will give a solitary one about that.
Rangers won a corner on the left. Barisic swung it out towards the near post, where Balogun leapt and strained his neck muscles to power a header across goal. It bounced up perfectly for Morelos, who headed it gleefully into the roof of the net from four yards.
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GOAL! Celtic 1-1 Rangers (Morelos 38)
Alfredo Morelos gets his first Old Firm goal!
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36 min Willie Collum gives Morelos a brollocking over something or other. It’s still all Celtic.
32 min Nothing comes of the corner.
32 min Hagi’s low cross is put behind for a corner by Ajer.
31 min In the last five minutes, it says here, Celtic have had 83 per cent of the possession.
30 min Laxalt plays a crisp pass into the underlapping McGregor, whose low shot from a tight angle is kicked away by McGregor. Celtic are getting all kinds of joy down their left.
29 min “Imagine growing up with Hagi as your dad and having a kickabout in the park with him!” weeps Ian Copestake.
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28 min I suspect Steven Gerrard will be taking advantage of the hairdryer facilities in the away dressing-room at half-time. Rangers look half asleep.
27 min Edouard is booked for diving! I was sure it was a penalty at first glance, as Barisic lunged in, but Willie Collum disagreed. I think he was right, on reflection, though I’d like to see a few more replays. Edouard could have shot first time after running onto Elyounoussi’s backheel; instead he tried to go past Barisic and fell over.
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27 min McGregor’s snapshot is blocked by Kamara. This is a really good spell for Celtic.
25 min “Other than David Turnbull, who looks like he could be a really good player for club and country (despite missing out in Steve Clarke’s latest squad), Celtic’s player recruitment has been pretty shocking this season,” says Simon McMahon. “A £5m goalkeeper who looks like he couldn’t catch a cold, a £5m pound striker who looks like he couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo, and Shane Duffy, whose defending this season wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Sunday morning pub league. Plus assorted loans and established stars who are either past their sell by date or look as if they’d rather be playing somewhere else. But apart from that, not bad.”
On the plus side, Stephen Welsh came through the ranks.
That was a lovely goal. McGregor guided a good long pass down the left to Edouard, who ran from in to out and then clipped in a devastating first-time cross. Elyounoussi got away from Helander and thumped a diving header through the legs of McGregor.
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GOAL! Celtic 1-0 Rangers (Elyounoussi 23)
Celtic take the lead with their first shot on target!
23 min A couple of Celtic players appeal for a penalty when Turnbull’s corner hits Helander. Willie Collum isn’t interested.
22 min That was the first attempt on target in the match.
21 min Kent dances cockily away from Brown and finds Barisic, whose outswinging cross is headed straight at Bain by Morelos. It was a difficult chance - 12 yards, moving away from goal - and he couldn’t get any power on it.
21 min I’ll wake you up when something happens.
18 min Edouard twists past a couple of defenders in the area before Davis (I think) comes across to clear.
18 min I like the look of Stephen Welsh, Celtic’s young back. He’s calm, good on the ball and some other praise I can’t think of right now.
16 min It’s been a pedestrian start to the game. I suspect all the nastiness of Thursday night has made both teams more self-conscious than usual. Give it half an hour.
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13 min Laxalt is fouled by Hagi, which gives Celtic a free-kick on the left wing. Turnbull’s cross is headed away as far as McGregor, who plays a deft one-two with Welsh and volleys over from 20 yards. It was a decent effort, though I doubt Allan McGregor’s pulse rate was affected.
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11 min Kent nicks the ball off Kenny mand moves into the area before being well tackled by Welsh.
9 min The first dodgy tackle of the game is by Balogun on Laxalt. It was a misjudgement rather than anything malicious, and the referee Willie Collum keeps his yellow card in his pocket.
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9 min It’s like a training game at the moment. I’m sure that will change as the match develops, but for now it’s all very subdued.
7 min “Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Two teams with nothing to play for, so let’s hope football is the winner, eh?”
6 min Rangers win a free-kick on the left, and make such a mess of it that I wish I hadn’t bothered starting this entry.
3 min A quiet start to the game. Ryan Kent just did a nice Zidane-style roulette on the left; that’s about it.
🤝A touching moment at Parkhead as Celtic captain Scott Brown shows his support to Glen Kamara after the Rangers midfielder suffered alleged racist abuse on Thursday in the Europa League
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 21, 2021
📺Watch Celtic vs Rangers at home - live on Sky Sports now! pic.twitter.com/qVTZgQLdik
1 min Peep peep! Celtic kick off from left to right.
Both sets of players have decided not to take the knee before the game. Instead they all stand together, on the pitch and the touchline.
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The players emerge from the tunnel on a lovely, sunny afternoon in Glasgow. Let’s get it on.
Pre-match reading
And while we’re on the subject of Graeme James Souness.
Just hand over the award, now ... #Souness #LFC #Rangers pic.twitter.com/9GmZk5ydRY
— Stewart Weir (@sweirz) September 11, 2020
Team news
The Finland midfielder Glen Kamara, who was allegedly the subject of racist abuse by Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela on Thursday night, starts for Rangers.
Celtic (4-2-3-1) Bain; Kenny, Welsh, Ajer, Laxalt; Brown, McGregor; Christie, Turnbull, Elyounoussi; Edouard.
Substitutes: Barkas, Duffy, Bitton, Taylor, Soro, Forrest, Rogic, Klimala, Griffiths.
Rangers (4-3-3) McGregor; Balogun, Goldson, Helander, Barisic; Aribo, Davis, Kamara; Hagi, Morelos, Kent.
Substitutes: McLaughlin, Patterson, Bassey, Zungu, Arfield, Wright, Defoe, Roofe, Itten.
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Preamble
Hello. Isn’t this a rare event: an Old Firm derby with nothing riding on it, not even bragging rights. Rangers own those for the foreseeable after their glorious march to the title, and it’s Celtic’s worst nightmare to host their title party today. But don’t think for a nanosecond that this is a dead rubber. It’s Celtic v Rangers, for flip’s sake, and there is one big thing to play for: our old double-edged friend, male pride.
Celtic have already said that they won’t be giving Rangers a guard of honour, which is fair enough given that Rangers didn’t line up for Celtic at Ibrox two years ago. And while it’s hard to know for sure whether Rangers will be more or less coiled because of their poisonous match against Slavia Prague on Thursday, a donnybrook or two wouldn’t come as a huge surprise. There was no ten in a row for Celtic, but there could well be ten involved in a row if this game kicks off in the traditional style.
Kick off 12pm.
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