Read Ewan Murray’s match report:
FULL TIME: Rangers 1-5 Celtic
The referee blows up with barely 20 seconds of added time played. Celtic care not. They’ve utterly humiliated their great rivals on their own patch! This matches their biggest-ever triumph at Ibrox, a 4-0 win back in 1897. It’s the first time they’ve ever scored five here. They could have had many more. That’s why they’re champions, their fans will sing; their second 5-1 Old Firm victory this season! The players dance and cavort in front of the away end; the rest of the ground is deserted. Celtic were at their brilliant best today. Rangers have a lot of thinking to do this summer.
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GOAL! Rangers 1-5 Celtic (Lustig 87)
Life imitating art: my computer comes out in sympathy with Rangers, and crashes just as Lustig goes dancing down the middle and curls a lovely shot into the bottom right!
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82 min: Waghorn is booked for a frustrated lunge on the excellent Tierney. Could Kieran Tierney become the best Celtic full back since Danny McGrain? Is he the best thing to come out of the Isle of Man since Mindhorn?
GOAL! Rangers 1-4 Celtic (Miller 81)
This is a fine goal, the 37-year-old Miller driving down the middle, laying off to Garner on his left, and receiving a perfectly weighted ball back that sits up invitingly on the penalty spot. Miller opens his body and sidefoots into the bottom right. That’s a sliver of respectability for Rangers - only a sliver, mind - and it’s 10 in 20 Old Firm goals in a blue shirt for Miller.
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80 min: Windass has a dig from distance. It loops up and drops harmlessly into the arms of Gordon. Garner, chasing the shot down, can’t put the brakes on quickly enough and softly crashes into the keeper. The pair fall to the ground. The crowd holler in anger, but they get up smiling.
79 min: Boyata bundles Garner to the ground under a high ball. It’s not much, but having already been booked, he’ll need to watch himself in case the referee is hot on totting up. The free kick’s launched long, and Garner takes a fresh-air swipe 12 yards out.
77 min: Armstrong drops a shoulder and shimmies right to left through the Rangers D. He whips a shot towards the top left; it’s inches away. And it’s his last act of the afternoon. Tom Rogic comes on in his stead.
75 min: Celtic have taken their foot off the pedal. Boyata gifts Rangers a clumsy free kick out on the right. Tavernier curls one into the mixer, but the ball’s cleared easily enough. Griffiths tries to reinvigorate the visitors with a delicious back-heel in the centre circle, but the quick break he’s instigated breaks down with a loose McGregor pass.
73 min: Windass adroitly turns Brown on the right-hand edge of the Celtic D, by some distance the best piece of skill from a man in blue today. Fire engine to wrong fire stuff. It deserves something, a goal perhaps, but his low shot is blocked, the rebound loops up to Waghorn, 12 yards out, and he heads lamely wide right with the goal gaping.
72 min: Roberts makes way for James Forrest.
71 min: Some scrappy nonsense. Nothing much doing. Rangers will take that right now.
69 min: Boyata slides in on Garner as the latter makes his way down the Rangers right. A booking for the goalscorer, and a chance for the hosts to load the box. The free kick’s just to the right of the Celtic area. Tavernier loops it towards the far post. Simunovic rises to head clear.
67 min: Roberts flicks a ball down the right wing to send McGregor into the Rangers box. McGregor hoicks high over the bar. The potential for embarrassment here is high.
GOAL! Rangers 0-4 Celtic (Boyata 66)
Another free kick for Celtic, this time out on the right, Beerman having bundled McGregor to the ground. Griffiths whips it in. Foderingham doesn’t bother to come for a ball that’s surely his, and Boyata sends a downwards header through his legs and into the net. This equals Celtic’s biggest-ever winning margin at Ibrox. And there’s a quarter of the game still to go!
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64 min: A yellow card for Halliday, who bundles over McGregor as the Celtic man tears down the inside-right channel. A free kick just outside the Rangers box in a very dangerous position. But Griffiths, looking for the top right, clears the bar by some distance. Rangers breathe again. They’ll be desperate not to concede another goal; Celtic’s record win at Ibrox is 4-0, back in 1897.
62 min: Tavernier flings a couple of long throws into the Celtic box from the right. Then a cross. Gordon claims. He throws out quick, catching Brown a little by surprise. Miller slides in to win the ball, a wonderful challenge, then slips it past Tierney on the right. But his whipped cross, along the corridor of uncertainty, hasn’t been anticipated by anyone in blue. Gordon smothers and looks a little sheepish.
60 min: A pinball deflection drops to Miller, just to the left of the Celtic D. He takes a first-time whack, a decent connection but one which sends the ball straight at Gordon.
58 min: Griffiths bustles down the right, sent away by McGregor, but lashes over from the edge of the box. Then he romps clear down the left, and batters a high shot into the top left from a tight angle. But it’s no goal, he’d mistimed his run and the offside flag goes up. Every time Celtic go forward, something looks on.
56 min: On the touchline, Pedro Caixinha looks anguished. He decides to replace Hyndman with Joe Garner.
54 min: Miller busies himself in an attempt to get something going for Rangers up the other end, but it’s a futile pursuit. Rangers are finding it impossible to keep hold of the ball.
GOAL! Rangers 0-3 Celtic (McGregor 52)
If a goal’s ever been coming, this is is. McGregor comes at the backtracking Rangers back line. His shot pings off Hill and back to Roberts, who thinks about a go himself but returns the ball to McGregor, on his left. McGregor takes a touch, then another to deceive Tavernier, and threads a shot across Foderingham and into the bottom right! Cool as you like. This now has the potential to turn into something very embarrassing for Rangers. If it isn’t that already.
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51 min: Tierney comes again down the left and hooks low into the centre for Griffiths, who swings weakly at the ball from the penalty spot and sends it trundling into the arms of Foderingham. But the chances continue to come thick and fast for the champions.
50 min: It’s all Celtic again, though right now in the middle of the park, in the sterile style. Tierney eventually bursts down the left and skips Wilson’s challenge on the edge of the box. He probably should have gone over Wilson’s rashly hung-out leg, but opts to stay on his feet, and the move peters out.
48 min: Celtic come again, but this time McGregor is caught offside as he tries to break into the Rangers box. The home side go up the other end, Tavernier winning a corner off Boyata down the right. But the set piece is a non-event.
46 min: It’s still raining quite a lot. Within a minute, Hyndman clatters into Brown. It should be a free kick, but the referee waves play on. Armstrong strides down the left and sends a ball into the centre. McGregor tries to bundle home, but the ball’s deflected wide left for a corner that leads to nothing.
And we’re off again! Rangers make a change, bolstering their midfield with Andy Halliday at the expense of Joe Dodoo. Celtic get the ball rolling for the second half.
Half-time reading: In case you missed it, here’s a glorious must-read piece by Daniel Harris on the famous Dundee United side of the 1980s. Warning: contains the phrase “He was an absolute fucking bampot.”
HALF TIME: Rangers 0-2 Celtic
From a Rangers throw deep in Celtic territory, Brown breaks upfield and feeds McGregor down the left. He skips past Tavernier and tries to find Griffiths in the middle with a low cross. Hill does very well to intercept and clear. Rangers go back up the other end in basketball style, Windass cutting in from the left and feeding Miller, who creams a shot towards the top left from 25 yards. It’s inches away, by far the best moment of the game from Rangers. At which point the whistle blows for half time. The players troop off, one set with a notable spring in their step, the other with shoulders slumped. It’s fair to say Rangers need a little time to regroup.
44 min: Another corner for Celtic, this time down the right, earned by Roberts. This one doesn’t clear the first man. If there’s a criticism to be made of Celtic, it’s that they’ve been terribly profligate, almost recklessly so given their utter superiority in this game.
42 min: Celtic ping it around the midfield. The away support shout “Olé!” quite a lot. Perhaps they’re referencing their favourite John Coltrane album. Griffiths makes off down the left and whips a low cross into the centre. Hill dives and is lucky not to send a header crashing into his own net. Instead it skims off the top of his head and out to the right. A trick of sorts. Olé!
40 min: Some space for Roberts down the right. Three rugby points. But the chances are coming thick and fast for Celtic.
38 min: Armstrong sends the free kick towards Lustig at the far post. It flies harmlessly into the stand behind the goal. Brief respite for Rangers. But Sinclair is quick to come again down the left. He nearly breaks clear, but is forced to check back and lay off to Tierney, who nearly busts free into the area himself. Some neat footwork, but he can’t quite get a shot away. Rangers clear.
37 min: Tierney is a force of nature. He works his way down the inside-left channel and purchases a cheap free kick of the rash Hyndman. A chance for Celtic to load the box.
35 min: ... the ball is worked to Roberts, 20 yards out on the left. He sends a rising shot inches over the crossbar. Foderingham probably had that one covered, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Rangers can’t keep on like this. They’re lucky it’s only two.
34 min: Tierney and Sinclair are running riot down the left wing. They nearly open Rangers up yet again with crisp passing and determined overlapping. Not quite this time. But Celtic are soon coming back and win another corner down the same flank. From which...
32 min: This is a little better from Rangers. Tavernier loops a long ball into the Celtic area from the right. Dodoo rises high at the far post to head back across. He had no right to reach that ball, a fine header to keep the move going. But the ball drops to Lustig, who clears with Miller sniffing around.
31 min: The ever-impressive Tierney wins a corner with his cross from the right. From the set piece, Foderingham comes through a crowd to punch clear with great intent. But every time Celtic go forward, they look like scoring.
29 min: From the resulting free kick, Armstrong curls one from left to right. It drops to Sinclair, a couple of yards out, by the far stick. He must score! But somehow he shanks it wide. He really should have a hat-trick already. Rangers are all over the shop. If they’re not careful, this could be the 1957 League Cup final all over again. Celtic are utterly dominant, and could easily be four to the good.
27 min: Windass is booked for a late tackle on Sinclair, who was making off down the left. That’s a fair decision, but coming off the back of the Simunovic-Miller affair, it’s not a popular one at Ibrox. There’s a brief philosophical debate involving 15 or 16 players, but it all calms down soon enough.
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25 min: How are Celtic not three up? Griffiths turns on a sixpence to the right of the Rangers D, and curls a wonderful effort towards the top left. Foderingham is beaten all the way, but the ball batters the crossbar. It drops to Sinclair, who should convert the rebound, but he slashes his shot across the face of goal and wide right. Rangers are livid because that attack sprung from a robust Simunovic challenge on Miller in Celtic territory. They wanted a foul, perhaps a booking. It looked hard but fair.
24 min: Miller and Waghorn combine well down the right. Miller looks to break into the Celtic box, but Boyata slides across to block. It’s a corner, though. A chance for Rangers to strike back? Well, yes, but Tavernier blooters a hopeless set piece high over the box and out of play on the other side, halfway back up the pitch. Rangers’ heads have been addled by Celtic’s wonderful start.
22 min: Armstrong picks the ball up 20 yards out, and shoots for the bottom right. His effort is deflected wide of the left-hand post for a corner. Sinclair takes, Hill clears. But Rangers are struggling to get out of their own box. First Griffiths has a shot that’s blocked, then Lustig, out on the right, crosses deep for Sinclair, who connects with a volley on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He blazes over, and was offside anyway. But if Rangers keep on like this, they’ll be on the end of a spanking.
20 min: Armstrong causes a lot of bother down the left, and very nearly squirts the ball through a crowded box to Griffiths, six yards out. Celtic are rampant here. Rangers are rocking.
GOAL! Rangers 0-2 Celtic (Griffiths 18)
What a strike this is! Griffiths comes at Rangers down the left now, sent away by Armstrong. Upon reaching the edge of the area, and with nothing on in the middle, he opts to lash one towards the top right. And it’s in! Wallop! Foderingham might have done a bit better, but that was hit with such venom that you can’t blame the keeper for that. Rangers in real trouble already.
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16 min: Sinclair diddles his way past Tavernier down the left. He reaches the byline and very nearly finds Griffiths in the middle, six yards out, with his dinked cross. Not quite. Wilson half clears. Tierney attempts a Zidane style dipping volley from 25 yards out on the left. Not quite. Goal kick. Celtic come back quickly, Griffiths running at pace down the right before being unceremoniously halted on the edge of the Rangers box by Tavernier’s block tackle.
14 min: It is pelting down at Ibrox. The sort of day when a man could mistime a sliding tackle.
12 min: The rampaging Tierney scoots down the inside-left channel to feed Sinclair once again. Sinclair slips the ball inside for McGregor, who can’t quite get a shot away. Rangers romp up the other end through Miller, but he can’t get his cross into the area with Dodoo lurking in the centre. This match is trundling along at 100mph.
10 min: Brown and Miller go up for a high ball. Brown’s arm goes across Miller’s face. No real power in it, the arm wasn’t thrown. Miller wants the referee to take action, though, and makes his point using words that start with eff and cee. The ref tells him to pipe down. No doubt these two lads will come together again later in this match.
8 min: A couple of bampots rush the pitch, according to Sky. We’re not shown any of it. The police deal with them in quick order.
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GOAL! Rangers 0-1 Celtic (Sinclair 7 pen)
Sinclair scores his fourth goal in six Old Firm games, slotting the penalty into the bottom right, Foderingham going the wrong way. What a cool finish! What a preposterous challenge by Beerman!
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Penalty for Celtic!
6 min: Roberts chases a ball down the right. He’s just inside the Rangers area, but running away from goal. No danger. Or so it seems! Beerman comes crashing in at a daft pace, scything down his man. It’s a no brainer, in more ways than one!
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5 min: McGregor, out on the right, sashays across the front of the Rangers box. He lays off for the excellent young Tierney, coming in from the other flank. Tierney feeds Sinclair out on the left. Sinclair runs out of room. A pretty move, though.
3 min: And now Rangers have a go at Celtic, Windass and Miller exchanging crisp passes down the inside-left channel. Windass finds himself in an awful lot of space, and looks to curl one into the top right from 25 yards. It’s a half-decent effort, no more. Wide right. But this has been a fast, enjoyable start, both teams going at it with purpose.
And we’re off! Rangers get the ball rolling. Soon enough, though, Celtic are coming at the hosts. Sinclair cheekily backflicks to release McGregor into the box down the left. That’s a gorgeous touch. He thinks he’s one on one with Foderingham, but Hill comes sliding across to block. The ball hits Hill on the top of his arm as he slides through, but it wasn’t intentional. No penalty.
The teams are out! You don’t need to be told any of this, but for the sake of completism: Rangers are in royal blue; Celtic wear green and white; the Big O is blasting from the speakers; both sets of fans are giving it plenty. What an atmosphere! A friendly handshake between Caixinha and Rodgers. We’ll be off in a minute!
Brendan Rodgers speaks! “It will be a tough game. We expect they will change their system and play with a diamond, so that will be interesting. But we come into this with confidence, although we will have to work hard. Leigh Griffiths is a terrific player and a terrific goalscorer, he’s always going to be a threat. Scott Brown is the most influential player in Scotland, he wants the ball, and is a great catalyst for the team. It’s a plus to have him.” Brown is of course only playing today because the SFA rescinded his red card for clattering into Liam Boyle of Ross County the other week. If the pre-match chat from both of the managers is anything to go by, expect the influential Celtic captain to be in the thick of it again today. Although did we need any pre-match chat to tell us that?
Pedro Caixinha speaks! “You want to know the formation? I can tell you! We are going in a 4-3-1-2 in order to retain the build-up. Especially in the division play, which is going to be Scott Brown, they’re going with the same team. We want to be more aggressive and explore more spaces, created with our pressure and also when we have the ball. This is Ibrox, and we need to do much more to win the game!”
And for fans of unbeaten runs... this JoS includes mention of Celtic’s 62-game stretch between November 1915 and April 1917, plus for balance Rangers’ 100-percent campaign of 1898-99.
Pre-match reading: Everyone has their favourite Old Firm memory. Perhaps yours is included in this old Joy of Six? Something here for everyone.
Rangers make three changes to the team named for the cup semi last weekend. Clint Hill, Josh Windass and Joe Dodoo start this time, while David Bates, Andy Halliday and Joe Garner drop to the bench.
Celtic make just the one enforced change from the XI sent out to beat Rangers at Hampden. Moussa Dembele is hamstrung, so in comes Leigh Griffiths.
The teams
Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Danny Wilson, Hill, Beerman, Windass, Holt, Hyndman, Miller, Waghorn, Dodoo.
Subs: Alnwick, Garner, McKay, Forrester, Halliday, Bates, O’Halloran.
Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Simunovic, Boyata, Tierney, Brown, Armstrong, Roberts, McGregor, Sinclair, Griffiths.
Subs: Bitton, Gamboa, Rogic, De Vries, Sviatchenko, Forrest, Eboue.
Referee: John Beaton.
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Good morning Glasgow!
Look at it one way, and this is the rarest of Old Firm fixtures: one that really doesn’t mean very much. Celtic are already the champions of Scotland, and while Rangers are unlikely to beat Aberdeen into second spot, they’re equally unlikely to be pipped to third and the second Europa League place by St Johnstone. Whatever happens at Ibrox this afternoon, things’ll be pretty much as you were.
But things are never that simple when Scotland’s co-dependent behemoths get together. Both Rangers and Celtic have an unbeaten season to their name: Celtic in 1897-98, a 100-percent Rangers the very next year. But that was when there were only 18 games to a campaign. This time, Celtic are five games away from invincibility in a 38-match season, an achievement of an altogether different stripe. Rangers, needless to say, will be desperate to stop them.
Rangers also really need to put down a marker for next season. Since beating Celtic 3-2 at Ibrox in March 2012, there have been eight meetings between the two great rivals. Celtic have won six of them to an aggregate score of 15-2. The other two games have been drawn, although one of those led to a Scottish Cup penalty shoot-out which Rangers won. Victory in that cup tie was understandably cathartic for Rangers after their years in the wilderness, but a league scalp, having now returned to the big time, eludes them and would arguably mean even more. It would certainly stand them in good stead for 2017-18, and stop a dismal run turning from mere concern into raging complex. Celtic, needless to say, will be desperate to keep on asserting their current superiority.
Yes, this means something all right. Or possibly we’re reading way too much into this? This afternoon’s game could be just a damn fine rammy, no more, no less, one which will have bugger all influence on anything going forward, but will mean the world right now. You decide. Either way, here’s to the final Old Firm fixture of the season being memorable and a whole lot of fun. Good luck everyone; we love you all. It’s on!
Kick off: High noon.
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