The third Old Firm derby of the season may yet prove to be the decisive clash that sent the title on its way back to the green side of the city.
The stakes couldn't have been much higher at Ibrox this afternoon, with a packed house featuring away fans for a Glasgow derby for the first time since December 2019.
Both sets of Rangers and Celtic players were greeted by a wall of noise as they emerged from the tunnel, with a huge banner reading 'This city of ours' spanning the entire stand next to the away support.
There was even a banner flown across the Govan sky that read 'Bring home 56' in a bid to light a fire under Gio van Bronckhorst 's side heading into the monumental battle.
And the Hoops were initially fearing the worst when they had to listen to the near 50,000 strong Rangers support celebrating Aaron Ramsey's third-minute opener. If there had been a roof it would likely have been blown off by the celebrations after the Juventus loanee's fine finish.
The roles soon reversed though as Celtic playmaker Tom Rogic curled an equaliser past Allan McGregor to silence the huge majority of the crowd inside the Govan stadium just four minutes later.
Having ended a seven-game winless run in the historic derby fixture in February, Ange Postecoglou 's side kicked on and took the lead just before the break as Cameron Carter-Vickers produced a striker's finish to put the Hoops ahead.
He celebrated like a man who knew just how important his fourth goal of the Premiership season might turn out to be.
Into the second half tempers were flaring up as Rangers looked to battle their way level, with Ryan Jack and Giorgos Giakoumakis enjoying a battle after the Greek international scythed the Scotland midfielder down.
Jack had branded the striker "disrespectful" in his pre-match press conference for comments about their city rivals, and those tensions spilled on to the park.
But a dogged defensive display from Celtic ensured they returned to Parkhead with three crucial points that extended their lead at the top of the Premiership to six points.
With a vastly superior goal difference, it appears the Hoops are now in pole position to wrestle the title back from their fierce rivals at the first time of asking.
The looks on some of the Rangers players faces at full-time showed just how devastating a blow their first home league defeat in more than two years was,
The Celtic players didn't hide their delight though. They raced over to their 700 strong support and bounced along with them as they celebrated getting one hand back on the title they previously won nine times in a row.
While there are still six games remaining, van Bronckhorst's side now have a mountain to climb and will also be relying on the Parkhead club dropping points outside of their post-split rematch in the east end.
