Read Ewan Murray’s match report:
Anyway, thanks for your company – enjoy the rest of your weekend. And in the meantime, join Will Unwin for Arsenal - Watford.
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That was fantastic. A game of pace, aggression, attitude and skill – along with plenty of affirming hatred – featuring four great goals, one very good goal, a red card, and a title more or less decided; Celtic are now nine points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. However, make no mistake: Rangers are on the way back, nurturing a compelling youthfulness and swagger. If they can add some control, they’ll be a serious force next season,
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Full-time: Rangers 2-3 Celtic
What a game that was!
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90+4 min Celtic get Edouard on the ball and he teases Tavernier, looking to open that same shooting lane. This time he’s seen away, but wins a corner; that is poised to transition into that.
90+4 min Rangers huff and puff, but to little avail.
90+2 min Tavernier tries another cross and again Celtic clear, breaking with Edouard. Alves can’t help himself, hauling him to the ground and enabling Celtic to waste a few more seconds.
90+1 min Ntcham fouls someone or other and is booked.
90 min We’re going to get four additional minutes.
88 min WHAT A MISS! OH MY DAYS WHAT A MISS! WHAT A MISS, WHAT A MISS, WHAT A MISS! Tavernier slides a pass to Windass, who drives a shot through a phalanx of legs that Bain dives to shove out ... straight to Morelos who, from in front of goal, two yards out, could sneeze it in. But instead he somehow pokes the ball onto the near post and Bain collects the rebound! He’s going to regret that for the rest of his life, which is precisely what football is all about!
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87 min Morelos swipes at a ball and sends it towards Tavernier, who scuffs his cross. Rnagers have just lost the heid since going behind - not in wild way but in a don’t know what to do way.
86 min Final change for Celtic: Armstrong replaces Dembele, who has had a quiet, brilliant afternoon: generally not participating but scoring a fine goal and helping to create another.
84 min Rangers win a free-kick, just outside the D, just right of centre, and Tavernier tries a shot but hits it more or less straight at Bain.
83 min Ally Moncrieff makes contact on the subject of tweeting opponent’s goals:
— Stenhousemuir FC (@StenhousemuirFC) March 10, 2018
82 min Tavernier again finds Candeias outside him, but the ensuing cross is complete nonsense and Bain will smash his goalkick downfield.
80 min I literally cannot wait to hear Brendan Rodgers affect humility when describing his role in this win - if Celtic do hang on. In that connection, Bain takes ages over a goalkick and is booked.
79 min Rangers are clean out of ideas. They may as well get men forward and whack it into the box because Celtic’s centre-backs aren’t the greatest and nothing else they’re trying is working.
78 min Dembele leaps into Cardoso and wins the header but bashes the man. He’s booked for that and various earlier offences.
77 min What Rangers lack here is a midfielder with authority, able to put a foot on the ball and tell others what they should be doing.
75 min Clubs tweeting out opponent’s goals are my favourite genre of tweet.
69' GOAL: Edouard scores for Celtic. 2-3
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 11, 2018
74 min Tavernier tricks hiw way down the right and snaps in a cross, but Brown is on hand to intercept and Ntcham completes the clearance.
74 min Rangers replace Goss with Cummings.
72 min If Celtic can hang on here, this win will be branded in the Old Firm annals; coming from behind twice, down to ten men, a sub scoring an immediate and brilliant winner, to more or less confirm yet another title.
71 min Goss volleys Ntcham, which might make him feel a little better for a little while, but not overall.
WHAAAAT A GOAL! Rangers 2-3 Celtic (Edouard, 69)
Oh yes! Dembele spreads a fine pass out left to Edouard, who drives at Goss and skips inside him, opening body and angle for a curler; it’s there for all to see, but what a finish it demands ... what a finish it gets, rising into the top corner! Decent change, that.
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68 min Crafty Boyata tries to be dead crafty, nipping in front of Morelos to relieve him of possession before he even has it. But he misses and Morelos races away at inside-left, Ajer sliding in as he shoots and Bain doing well to palm away his shot.
67 min The corner comes to nowt.
66 min It’s all Rangers now, and Celtic don’t look especially assured. Tavernier slides a pass out to Candeias, and his cross is beyond everyone but Tierney heads behind anyway. Before the corner is taken, Forrest is replaced by Edouard.
65 min Tavernier nashes down the right and swings in a low cross, which Boyata sees away.
64 min ... but he gets underneath it, larruping well over the top.
63 min Rangers win a free-kick 25 yards out, left of centre ... Windass looks like he fancies this...
62 min Rangers are pushing the pace now; Celtic will have to see this out with one centre-back making just his fourth appearance and the other centre-back being Dedryck Boyata.
60 min So what do Rangers do? Half an hour against ten men, they really ought to win from here, but they’re set up to play on the break. Perhaps another striker would help.
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59 min Change for Celtic: Hendry comes on to replace Simunovic, and Rogic is sacrificed.
58 min Andy Walker reckons it was harsh, on what basis I am unsure.
56 min Morelos and Simunovic chase a high ball, Simunovic puts an elbow in Morelos' face, and is sent-off!
Can’t have any complaints about that. It’s possible it was an accident, but it didn’t look much like one to me; his accuracy was unerring and the lino was right there.
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56 min Bates has been taken to hospital, we’re told, as Rangers continue giving Celtic’s defenders aggravation in possession.
53 min Rangers are struggling for the first time, unable to put it together when they get the ball away. But they’re now pressing Celtic in their own half, which is a decent ruse. And it works almost immediately, Tavernier finding Candeias and racing inside him to collect a cute return. The ensuing cross earns a corner, which comes to nothing, but that little passage offers a blueprint for how Rangers might play.
52 min Dembele is into this now, and he easily passes Cardoso who has no option but to administer a bodycheck. He’s booked and Celtic have a free-kick, 25 yards out, just left of centre ... Ntcham drives it into the wall.
51 min Again, McGregor gets away down the left, Tavernier not in the same postcode, and opts to cut back a cross to the edge of the box ... but there’s no one around to pick it up.
49 min Morelos is doing an excellent job, a one-man forward line, and he sprints across the width of the pitch, drawing a foul from Brown. Rangers will need behaviour of that ilk to give their defenders a break.
46 min Murphy drives at the Celtic box and slides a pass to Morelos, who is shut down, and immediately Celtic whack it forward, Dembele flicking a lovely touch into the path of McGregor. He streaks away into the box and Docherty seems to pull him back, but the ref sees nothing amiss and he loses control, allowing Celtic to clear.
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46 min We go again. Can Rangers give their centre-backs the protection they need?
Back come the teams!
Half-time email: “Equally capable of scoring or conceding at any given moment,” snarks Simon McMahon. “Who’d have guessed this Celtic side is managed by Brendan Rodgers?”
I think he could be a really good manager, if he’d only put his ego away and get someone in to do the bits he’s not so good at.
That was a devastatingly brilliant half (of football). Three excellent goals, one very good goal, loads of good play, plenty of hard tackles, and scope for everyone to lose it after the break. Don’t go away!
Half-time: Rangers 2-2 Celtic
!!!!!!
WHAT A GOAL! Rangers 2-2 Celtic (Dembele 45+1)
In the right-back position, Brown slams a pass into the channel as Murphy flattens him. Dembele then runs onto the ball, a deft header taking it away from Cardoso as Alves ambles, which allows him to lift a tremendous finish over Foderingham. He’s barely been in the game, which makes that an even more spectacular finish than it was at face value.
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45 min There’l be two added minutes.
44 min Tierney drives off the line and towards the box, so Goss slides in to confiscate his legs. Booking, and free-kick Celtic, 25 yards out, far left of centre ... and Alves heads away well.
42 min Before the game, Brendan Rodgers was bigging up himself the options on his bench; I wonder if he’ll dip into them at half-time. His team have the upper hand at the moment, but look vulnerable every time they’re asked to defend. But here they come again, McGregor exchanging passes with Dembele, chucking in a lollipop or two, and driving a low shot through a set of legs and towards the far corner ... Foderingham sees it late, and does really well to shove away. Rangers are getting trampled in midfield at the moment.
40 min Celtic now lead 7-0 in corners, their latest effort causing minor panic when the ball bounces around the box. But Rangers bundle clear, and Celtic must start again.
39 min Rogic drives his cross into the middle, where Dembele has stolen in front of Tavernier. He heads down, but Foderingham dives to shove away, and anyway John was on the line had he been indisposed.
38 min Ntcham floats an outswinger to the back post, where Boyata lurks; the ball would probably have gone out, but Alves concedes the corner to be sure. Nothing comes of it, but Celtic quickly force another.
37 min Forrest attacks the box and inside-right so Docherty shoves him over; free-kick Celtic, 25 yards out...
36 min Candeias finds Morelos down the right and he megs Simunovic before crossing low again. Nothing comes of it, but the Rangers attack is currently far too quick and nasty for the Celtic back-four.
34 min Celtic are pushing again and get the ball to Rogic, 25 yards out. Again he has a shy, low this time, and Foderingham dives on it easily enough.
32 min Lovely from Morelos, slowing down then skinning Boyata on the outside with a change of pace. He drives a low cross across the six-yard box, but nae one is on hand to stick it hame.
30 min The home fans are booncing, and rightly so. This has been a seriously uplifting effort from their team ... though there’s plenty work to be done to translate it into points, never mind “bragging rights”.
29 min Celtic win a corner down the left and try a crafty low one to the near post; Tavernier is alive to it, and Rangers get themselves down the pitch.
28 min This is a brilliant half (of football, for anyone wondering).
GOAL! Rangers 2-1 Celtic (Candeias, 26)
John pastes down the left again – he is terrific fun – and as the ball arrives into his path, bouncing, he humps a fine cross into the middle. And it passes the various defenders before arriving into the path of Candeias, who keeps head and toes down, driving first-time into the far corner with the help of a minor deflection before losing his mind in appropriate fashion.
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24 min Ntcham is beginning to control midfield with his passing, and he drives one out to Forrest which results in a corner. As we wait for it to be taken we see John flying into a challenge earlier in the piece – the ref is doing well to turn the other cheek – and then the corner comes in, won in the air by Ajer ... Simunovic then turns an effort over the top. That was a half-chance.
22 min Celtic knockit about a bit, Ntcham eventually lofting a lovely pass out Forrest on the right. But John is right on him, Rangers break, and he ends up streaking down the line, cutting inside, across the box, and ramming a curler over the top. There’s a really engaging tearaway element to this Rangers side.
20 min Boyata is having an shocker, again hesitating and finding the ball behind him. This time he gets away with it, but Rangers need to pressure him every time he’s close to involved in the game.
18 min Murphy and Candeias make hay down the right, the latter crossing low and hard; Bain does well to dive onto it.
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18 min “Covered a Rangers CL game v PSV at Ibrox when Van Nistelrooy was playing for the Dutch side,” tweets Matthew Hirtes. “My ears are still ringing.” The Fabric of football grounds.
16 min I think the pattern of the game is set now. Celtic are on the ball, and Rangers are defending the spaces, with half an eye on breaking viciously.
15 min Not sure I’ve seen a better opening 15 this season, and the handbags aren’t even out yet.
15 min Cardoso replaces Bates.
14 min Bates has been down since the goal - he went over on his ankle in the process of not stopping Rogic equalising. He’s being stretchered off, I’m afraid.
13 min That’s what Rogic is capable off, apparently. More news as I get it.
WHAT A GOAL! Rangers 1-1 Celtic (Rogic, 12)
Well! Rogic takes the ball 25 yards out and evades Docherty before unleashing a left-footer which clips Bates and flies past Foderingham!
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11 min Back come Rangers! Murphy makes ground down the left then sends Morelos away, but he’s just offside – without good reason. Meanwhile and out of picture, Brown and Alves indulge in a minor scrap.
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10 min Ajer goes down the right and swings over a cross at which Foderingham flaps. But Forrest can’t profit as he pursues the loose ball.
8 min Murphy escapes down the left so Brown yanks him down. The free-kick comes ta nothin.
7 min This has been a great start! Tierney advances down the left and finds himself in the box, found by Mtcham’s fine pass. He might shoot ... he should shoot ... but instead squares to nae one.
6 min That goal was exactly what the game needed, and here’s another portion of the same, John scything through McGregor and avoiding a card.
4 min Oh, Dedryck.
WHAT A GOAL! Rangers 1-0 Celtic (Windass, 3)
Boyata makes a horrible error on halfway, out on the left touchline, dawdling in possession as he dreams of purple cranes, furry toilet seats and shimmering diving bells. In the meantime, Windass bursts through him and screeches away, cutting inside and absolutely bassing a rising finish over Bain with inside of his right foot. That was brilliant - he had so long to think about how he was going to finish that, but didn’t think about it at all, simply applying the hammer with minimum fuss and maximum prejudice.
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2 min McGregor, preferred to Sinclair, nashes down the left and finds Forrest, but Ajer snuffs him out.
1 min Docherty lofts an aimless one into the box and Simunovic doesn’t deal, giving, Windass a glimmer. But Boyata, back after six weeks away, tidies up. Rangers have started well, but.
1 min Off we go! The referee is a religious affairs teacher, apparently.
The players are with us. There’s a fine racket in the ground as Celtic huddle to unspecified purpose.
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“It wouldn’t be ‘Rivalry Weekend’ without this rivalry...” Er, there’s literally no such thing.
In a sense, today’s match is Momentum v Quality. I guess I’m backing Quality, but we’ll have a lot more fun if Momentum can start well.
Graham Murty wants his team to be more clinical than they have been in his previous Old Firm games, and to keep their intensity. His team aren’t talking about competing the league, he says, before talking about competing for the league.
The kind of thing that NO ONE wants to see at the end of Dundee 0-4 St Johnstone yesterday...
⚽️ Dundee 0-4 St Johnstone
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) March 10, 2018
Emotions spilled over at full time.
➡️ https://t.co/l3Egfk6h1U pic.twitter.com/jOMFEaTvuV
Tangentially, are we agreed that Scotland has the greatest vernacular, certainly in the UK and possibly the world?
It has been brought to my attention – ma attention – mattenttion – that gadges and radges is Edinburgh, not Glasgow. Feel free to educate me as to the equivalent (at least I know it’s Glesga, not Glesgae).
Meanwhile, atmosphere at Ibrox Stadium –the best in Britain, for my money – is building. The main stand is a work of art, and of all the grounds I’ve been to around the world, I’ve never heard one louder than this was before the 2003 Champions League match against Manchester United. A tiny sample size, granted, but people a fair bit older than me concur.
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Brendan Rodgers says he’s disappointed at having to change his keeper but not worried. He reckons it’s important for his players to stay calm, and he hopes the win; it’s great stuff I can tell you.
And here he is yet again.
OUTSTANDING pic.twitter.com/ht7wguzRf0
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) February 4, 2018
And here he is again, pretending not to be cold.
If only Celtic were as good at football as Scott Brown is at pretending not to be cold when the temperature is -11°c. pic.twitter.com/6LHMrLFmYY
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) February 23, 2018
Scott Brown is perhaps the most amusing character in football. Here he is pretending not to be cold.
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So Rangers are missing Martin and still missing Wallace, Dorrans, Jack, McCrorie and Rossiter, but Murphy and John are good to go.
Celtic are without Gordon, Bitton, Griffiths, Hayes, Wallace and the suspended Lustig, but Boyata is back as is Armstrong, who is on the bench. The boy Rodgers remains an ever-present
Radges and Gadges
Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Bates, Alves, John, Docherty, Goss, Candeias, Windass, Murphy, Morelos. Subs: Alnwick, Cardoso, Holt, Halliday, Miller, Cummings, Herrera.
Celtic: Bain, Ajer, Simunovic, Boyata, Tierney, Brown, Ntcham, Rogic, Forrest, McGregor, Dembélé. Subs: Doohan, Hendry, Musonda, Armstrong, Sinclair, Roberts, Edouard.
Bias ref: Willie Collum
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Preamble
Loathing, hate, detestation, dislike, distaste, abhorrence, abomination, execration, resentment, aversion, hostility, ill will, ill feeling, bad feeling, enmity, animosity, antagonism, antipathy, bitterness, animus, revulsion, disgust, contempt, repugnance, odium, rancour, disrelish – 27 synonyms for hatred, none of which we’re really meant to feel in real life, all of which mean nothing relative to Rangers v Celtic. You’ve got to love football!
So here we are. Rangers are improving – they’ve won their last six games – but more than that, for the first time feel that they are taking on Celtic without asterisks and caveats. Celtic, meanwhile – if they can suppress their sniggers – will point to the league table, which shows that they’re six points clear with a game in hand, and a dispiriting Europa League defeat to Zenit bares no relevance here. But the fact remains that they aren’t playing as well as they were, which is one reason that the Rangers players were excited to draw them in the Cup semis.
Whatever happens today, though, and whatever happens when they meet again next month, of one thing we can be sure: fitba is getting back to where it was and football is better off for it.
Kick-off: 12.00pm GMT
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