And here’s Ewan Murray’s match report:
Neil Lennon “I was an outstanding performance again. Everyone’s written us off recently. We’ve had a few weeks where we’ve been written off but we don’t believe the noise, don’t believe the hype. Today was an outstanding masterclass of how to play in a derby. We dominated the first half, we weren’t in any trouble. Maybe now people will cut us a bit of slack and respect us. My captain set the tone, as you have to do – we were physical, Rangers were physical, but we came out on top. We came here as underdogs for whatever reason but I think we put out a message today.”
Christopher Jullien: “My first Old Firm derby – woah! But it was a victory, so it was perfect. I have no words for the job we did on the field. Johnny [Hayes] finished it off but for 95 minutes we really pushed, everyone was like a family on the field. We defended well, we talk a lot.”
Johnny Hayes: “The manager has been drumming it into us that we need to start better. We worked long and hard on the training field this week and this afternoon we reaped the rewards on our hard work.”
Full-time: Rangers 0-2 Celtic
And that’s the last act of the game. The final whistle is the cue for Steven Gerrard to march miserably towards the changing rooms while the Celtic players and staff amass in the corner to drink in the exaltations of their handful of travelling fans. They deserve their win.
Red card! Jones
And there it is. Jordan Jones is given his marching orders for a hilariously shameless lunge on Moritz Bauer. Shin-height, the ball long gone, it’s as clear a red card as you’ll ever see.
95 mins Morelos latches on to Bolingoli’s mistimed header but can’t direct his first-time lob on target. That was a decent chance.
Goal! Rangers 0-2 (Hayes 90)
A lightning one-touch counter from Celtic sees Edouard give it to Ntcham and Ntcham to Hayes, who races clear of a lethargic Rangers defence. His initial shot is superbly saved by McGregor but he gets to the rebound first and slots into an empty net. And that’s that.
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92 mins Hope dwindles for Rangers as another set-piece comes to nowt when Goldon’s header bounces harmlessly wide. Four minutes of stoppage time to play.
89 mins And we have the game’s first yellow card. It goes to Arfield, for grabbing a fistful of Ntcham’s shorts as Celtic threatened a counter. Then Hayes gets one for some silly scrapping with Morelos. London buses.
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87 mins Another Rangers set-piece comes to nothing, Tavernier’s free-kick from the right headed away by the imperious Jullien. Celtic venture forward and Hayes’ driven low cross from the left is cut out on the slide by a desperate Goldson from pretty much beneath his own crossbar. Good defending.
85 mins Celtic change: Johnston off, Hayes on.
84 mins A rare Celtic attack sees Ntcham bounce a delicious one-two off Edouard to open up a good sight of goal. His shot is firm, side-footed… and straight at a grateful McGregor. He should have done better. All Celtic’s best moves tend to involve Edouard.
82 mins It’s corner after corner for Rangers, but none of them fruitful. Celtic have given up trying to counterattack and are instead camped entirely in their own half, defending assuredly and in numbers.
80 mins A foraging run from Jones forces a corner. It’s half-cleared as far as an onrushing Tavernier, whose half-volley whistles just over. Rangers are getting warmer.
78 mins We’re up the other end, and Jack’s sweet volley is blocked before Arfield drifts a header tamely wide having met a right-wing cross. And breathe.
76 mins It’s headed away by Jullien. Celtic break quickly and Ntcham’s effort is deflected over, before the same thing happens again from the resulting corner. Celtic get another corner and McGregor is forced into two fine saves in quick succession, both to keep out close-range efforts with his feet.
75 mins Rangers are pushing hard for the equaliser without creating anything clearcut. Jones draws a foul on the left - Tavernier will take the free kick.
72 mins Brown steams into a tackle, wins the ball and sends it early to Edouard. It opens up for him as he cuts in from the left but he can’t take advantage, firing meekly over.
70 mins That’s Aribo’s last contribution. He makes way for Jordan Jones.
67 mins A sight of goal for Aribo, who picks up a square ball from Arfield and takes aim, but the shot is dragged harmlessly wide.
62 mins Christie dances dangerously into the box before running into traffic at the vital moment. As Rangers break with Ojo, McGregor’s shameless attempted foul is his second booking-worthy challenge of the afternoon, and the second one ignored in favour of an advantage. But the attack comes to nothing. Celtic make a double change: Bauer for Bitton, Ntcham for Forrest
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60 mins And he’s involved immediately, leaving Bolingoli for dead on the right flank before seeing his name in lights and blazing a wildly ambitious shot comedically wide. Promising though.
59 mins Davis wafts a pass out of play, and Rangers make their second change. Morelos for Defoe. He’ll bring some much-needed calm to proceedings.
55 mins Ojo involved again down the left, rifling left-footed at goal, Forster beating it away. Ojo’s pace and trickery could be the way back into this for Rangers: he’s given them an injection of excitement. If only there was an obvious pun to be made.
53 mins Davis slides in Defoe, who jinks hopefully into the box but can’t get past Jullien. The decibel level rises another notch as Alfredo Morelos embarks on a vigorous warm-up.
49 mins Jack slides in to win the ball in midfield and starts another Rangers attack. It ends with Defoe, whose snapshot is deflected wide and the resulting corner punched clear by Forster. Celtic threaten to break, but Arfield snuffs it out with Makelele-like efficiency. Much more purposeful from the hosts so far this half.
46 mins We’re away again, with Ojo making an early impression with a darting run up the left. Rangers win a throw, keep the ball for a bit, and work it forward again. They already look more composed.
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And there it is - Sheyi Ojo is coming on for Glen Kamara. Unsurprising from Gerrard, and positive. The second half is imminent.
Half-time
Rangers muster a rare attack but Tavernier’s cross sails out for a goal kick. The referee blows up, and that’s it for a half pleasingly high on violence but notably short on class. Good fun though. Celtic were comfortably the better team one the early mania died down, with Rangers badly lacking a spark: surely not long until Gerrard sends for Morelos and/or Ojo.
44 mins A little cameo from the referee, who plays an unintentional one-two in the centre circle with Flanagan. It’s frenetic stuff here, with the aggression:quality ratio meaning very little constructive possession.
40 mins The challenges are flying in. An ariel challenge between Defoe and Elhamed leaves the latter on the floor. Some more snapping in midfield. Flanagan takes out Forrest. Astonishingly, the Bobby Madden hasn’t brought out his cards yet.
36 mins A bone-shaking moment as Jack and Bolingoli clatter violently into each other, the Rangers man arriving late, studs glistening, and leaving his opponent in a screaming heap. The ball was there (I think).
Goal! Rangers 0-1 Celtic (Edouard 32)
Goldson gives the ball away in dangerous territory in the right-back position. Johnston pounces, drives forward and slips in Edouard, who has peeled off to beat the offside trap with impeccable timing. He slots cooly past McGregor.
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30 mins In classic style, Defoe wriggles into a half-yard of space inside the box and rifles at goal. Forster saves, but it was offside.
28 mins …and wafts his shot a good mile or two wide.
28 mins Edouard and Christie link up again - keep your eye out for that combination - and the latter is brought down 25 yards from goal. Edouard stands over the ball…
25 mins Rangers win two crunching 50-50s to start a promising attack, which fizzles out when Defoe’s ball out wide goes to no one. Aribo then works his way into the box down the left but is halted with extreme prejudice by Brown.
22 mins Some lovely link-up play between Christie and Edouard ends with the latter clatteringly dispossessed on the edge of the box just as he was about to pull the trigger. Celtic suddenly look a class above.
20 mins Celtic finally show a bit of composure in possession, keeping the ball, working it around the pitch patiently and quieting the crowd (although these things are relative). That’ll please Lennon.
17 mins Nutmeg claxon! Kamara on Brown, the Ibrox crowd deafeningly delighted. It’s followed with comic inevitability by Brown hounding down Kamara for a retributive hack. Veins bulge. No card.
13 mins Neither side have looked assured enough to put their stamp on the game yet, both so far happy to forfeit imagination in favour of the avoidance of early mistakes. Elhamed and Flanagan clash heads, and both hoist themselves off the turf.
11 mins It’s fierce stuff here, with both sides hunting the ball like wolves as soon as possession reaches the middle third. Scott Brown registers his first challenge of the match.
8 mins McGregor scythes down Davis in the centre circle but a good advantage sees Rangers work their way into the box with some nice one-touch stuff, but no one can quite get a shot away. Absurdly, McGregor escapes a booking.
7 mins A flash of adventure from Johnston, who wriggles into the Rangers box down the left and forces a corner. Christie’s delivery is headed away.
6 mins Still waiting for the first spell of sustained possession from either side as Christie’s mis-hit crossfield ball sails away from Bolingoli to a chorus of sadistic Ibrox cheers.
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1 min The first crunching challenge comes courtesy of Jon Flanagan, and the first attempt on goal from Christie, whose long-ranger whistles over. No surprises on either count. A lively start.
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We're off
And it’s a bizarre kickoff, Edouard punting it long and diagonal, rugby-style, for a Rangers throw-in in their own corner - not even attempting to find a team-mate. File under ‘maverick’.
The teams are out, and all jaws are clenched firmly into game-face mode. Handshakes are exchanged in the Neville-Vieira stylee.
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So where might today’s game be won and lost? Certainly Rangers will need to keep close tabs on the livewire Odsonne Edouard, one of three scorers against Cluj on Thursday, especially when he peels off into the space behind the full-backs. And pulses will quicken if and when Ryan Christie, not averse to the odd wondergoal, finds a pocket of space in front of the Rangers back four.
At the other end, grizzled veteran Jermain Defoe comes into the game off the back of a hat-trick against Hibs last weekend, and the fact that Alfredo Morelos and Sheyi Ojo have six goals between them in the last two games yet both start on the bench gives some idea of the increasing depth of Rangers’ options. And then of course there’s the midfield battleground: not much tactical analysis to be applied there other than to say that teeth will be bared, tackles will fly and bones will shudder.
Some pre-match reading courtesy of our man in Scotland:
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Team news
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Flanagan, Jack, Davis, Kamara, Aribo, Arfield, Defoe. Subs: Foderingham, Helander, Barisic, King, Ojo, Morelos, Jones
Celtic: Forster, Jullien, Bitton, Brown, Christie, Johnston, Edouard, Bolingoli-Mbombo, Elhamed, McGregor, Forrest. Subs: Gordon, Griffiths, Bayo, Bauer, Hayes, Morgan, Ntcham
Preamble
Sixteen. The atomic number of sulphur. The voting age in Nicaragua. The number of petals on the Imperial Seal of Japan. And the average number of points by which Celtic have won the Scottish Premiership in the seven years since their great rivals were unceremoniously demoted.
And as fun as that has likely been for Glasgow’s green and white contingent, it has also meant that the watching world has been denied a title race – or anything even vaguely resembling one – for the best part of a decade. But is this the year that all changes?
It’s early days, but the signs are quietly promising. Having whittled down the gap between the two clubs from 39 points to 12 to nine over the past three seasons, Steven Gerrard’s side “welcome” Celtic to Ibrox today on roughly equal footing: with three games gone the two sides are neck and neck at the top of the table, separated only by goal difference. Rangers also prevailed in the two meetings at Ibrox last term – so it’s fair to say today’s fixture will at the very least deliver a contest worthy of the term. Rangers are back.
Bad news for Celtic, who have been eyeing that preposterous 10-in-a-row extravaganza for some time now, and have eight in the bag. But just as the outlandish is becoming tantalisingly realistic, so each step is getting a lot more difficult. Last season, Rangers gave Celtic a reminder of what it’s like to pursue the title with a bitter rival hunting you down. This time round, can Rangers finally catch their prey? This afternoon’s game will give us a good idea. Strap in!
