Here is the full report from Celtic Park:
Right that is it from me. The report will be on the site shortly and there is plenty more going elsewhere in the Saturday 3pm kick offs.
Jota and Johnston speak!
Jota: “Big win for us, always a tough game to play. We knew we couldn’t stop, we didn’t stop and we got the win.
“It’s always to amazing to score our fans and it wouldn’t possible without the help of everyone and the system we have in place.”
On the Morelos goal, Johnston says: “I felt the two hands on my back and it was one where I knew as soon as it went in the net that it was going to be called back.”
Here is the picture at the top of the Scottish Premiership after one. Celtic are now 12 points clear and surely out of sight for the title/
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 31 | 75 | 88 |
| 2 | Rangers | 31 | 46 | 76 |
| 3 | Hearts | 30 | 5 | 45 |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 30 | -5 | 44 |
| 5 | St Mirren | 30 | -8 | 41 |
Full-time: Celtic 3-2 Rangers
All over in a pulsating Old Firm derby. Celtic deserved it in the end and that is probably the end of the title race.
Key event
90+6 min: The answer is not. Barišić’s effort drifts over.
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90+5 min: Kent wins another free-kick right on the edge of the box. Surely not.
90+4 min: Rangers not putting up much of a rousing finish here, but they do have a chance to hoist one into the box.
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Key event
90+1 min: For a second Sakala looks like he is in as the ball goes in behind but the flag goes up as he the forward looks to lay it off to Colak.
90 min: We’ll have five extra minutes.
89 min: Alexandro Bernabei is on for Kyogo and wastes huge chance to kill the game. Oh flicks the ball on to the Argentinian to go one-on-one with McGregor and Bernabei inexplicably tries to play a pass to which ghost teammte was in his peripharal vision. What a waste.
87 min: Lundstram is on for Cantwell.
85 min: Morelos has to have a go at that! Ryan Kent nicks the ball and drives at the Celtic box, he slips it wide to the Colombian striker who declines to shoot, instead cutting inside, and the green and white shirts swarm back. That was a real chance for Rangers had they played their cards right, but the decision making was poor.
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81 min: Fascinating last ten minutes now.
Goal! Celtic 3-2 Rangers (Tavernier, 79)
Celtic Park is silenced. That is Tavernier’s 100th Rangers goal, mightily impressive given he is a full-back. This one is firm downward header from cross to the back post after Celtic only half-cleared a corner.
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78 min: Rangers will only leave themselves more open now as they chase this.
74 min: Oh Hyeon-gyu and Sead Haksabanovic are on for Jota and O’Riley as Celtic make more changes.
Goal! Celtic 3-1 Rangers (Jota, 73)
That is a horror show from Souttar. The defender’s back pass is at a really poor angle for McGregor and the keeper is left stranded. Jota still has a lot to do from a tight angle but finds a superb, composed finish.
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69 min: Fashion Sakala is on for Tilman as Celtic have a corner.
65 min: Kyogo has a chance for his hat-trick and this time Davies does clear. The Rangers defender did get caught under the ball from Taylor’s cross but got back at Kyogo to send it behind for a corner.
Goal! Celtic 2-1 Rangers (Kyogo, 62)
That had been coming. Davies had number of chance to clear a bouncing ball in the box and fails. Kyogo pounces and it is another top finish from a tight angle.
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61 min: Tomoki Iwata is on for Mooy, not the Australian’s best game.
60 min: Celtic go close again. Jota pulls his shot just wide after bveing by a smart Mooy pass. McGregor was stauesque in the Rangers goal and relieved to see the shot flash wide.
57 min: Off the line from Kyogo! Barisic is the right man in the right place for Rangers as O’Riley gets to the byline and pulls the ball back. Jota is offside in the buidlup so it would not have counted btu the defender did not know that. The noise has gone up again inside Celtic Park.
55 min: Now it is Celtic’s turn to enjoy a bit of pressure. For a second Maeda looks like he’s going to get chance as Kyogo links up with Jota but Davies steps into snuff it out as the Japanese forward looks to pull the trigger.
52 min: All Rangers. Celtic fail to play out and give away a free-kick, Tavernier’s clipped ball to the far post drop to Cantwell and he fires into the side netting.
50 min: Rangers have started well here and could be ahead. Big chance for Morelos as the ball drops to him after a ricochet in the box. Hart parries behind for a corner but had the striker placed the shot shot rather than lashing it that would have been a deserved lead.
47 min: Mooy earns the game’s sixth booking and he did earn it. Morelos had outmuscled him in the midfield and would have been in. The Australian simply grabbed the striker’s ankle and hauled him down.
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Second half underway
Will anyone take control of this in the second half?
Agreement in the studio at half-time that Morelos’s goal shouod not have not been ruled out. For me, if it was my team, I would have wanted the foul given. Johnston went down easily but the striker had his hands in the back. What do you think?
🎙️ "Never a free-kick... There is no foul there"
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 8, 2023
Morelos has the ball in the net, but Kevin Clancy says no goal. Was it a foul? ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aYBGnAnH7C
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Half-time: Celtic 1-1 Rangers
A typically fersity first 45 minutes. Two quality goals, some hearty challenges and a slight lack of precision.
45+1 min: We’re into two minutes of added time and Cantwell is booked for a late challenge.
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Goal! Celtic 1-1 Rangers (Tavernier, 45)
Wow. That is some free-kick. Tavernier curls his free-kick over the wall and in off the underside of the bar.
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44 min: Matt O’Riley is booked for a lung on Tillman, that’s three for Celtic now. James Tavernier has a sighter from 25 yrds out with the free-kick.
38 min: The lack of away fans is quite odd. When you’re expecting a certain kind of fan noise, it’s just not there. Case in point, Callum McGregor and Nicolas Raskin are both booked for a shoving match in the middle of the park. There is a lack of that secondary crowd reaction. Reminds me a bit of watching pandemic football.
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35 min: Celtic now controlling this. Rangers need a bit more from Morelos, win a few fouls in Celtic’s half to get up the pitch and break this up – that kind of thing.
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30 min: Jota is starting to get warmed up. First he reaches the byline from a long ball forward and digs out a cross that causes panic in the Rangers box. Then, after another misplaced pass, McGregor is forced into action again from a dangerous looking shot fired in from at least 30 yards. It was one of those physics-defying strikes taken with the instep that dips alarmingly. Anyone who played FIFA 04 will know what I am talking about.
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28 min: Rangers respond well to that setback as Cantwell and Tillman link up on the right, the latter gets the effort in but it slides a foot or so wide of Hart’s far post.
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Goal! Celtic 1-0 (Kyogo, 26)
And just like that, I look a fool and Celtic have the lead. Great finish from Kyogo, brilliant play from O’Riley to create the chance. Greg Taylor finds O’Riley in the Rangers’ box, the winger’s first touch falls kindly for him to cut back to the Japanese forward who swivels and finishes past McGregor.
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23 min: Celtic’s hairless wonders (Mooy and Maeda) have been chief culprits in this so far but the home side’s passing has been very sloppy. Had Morelos’ effort been allowed to stand you would have said Rangers woiuld have deserved it.
20 min: Morelos has the ball in the net but his celebrations are cut short before he’s even able to figure out there are no Rangers fans to run towards. The referee reckons the Rangers man shoved over his marker at the corner. That is very soft, but the VAR agrees with the onfield official.
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17 min: First real bit of danger for Alan McGregor in the Rangers goal. Kyogo cuts in from the right nd tries to bend one in at the far post, but McGregor is able to get his palms to it and Cantwell is able to pick up the pieces to snuff out the danger.
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15 min: Alistair Johnston is doing well to keep tabs on Tillman so far. The young German has been Rangers’ biggest threat so far, but Celtic’s right back has been able to match him stride for stride on the couple of occasions Tillman has had a chance to dribble forward.
12 min: This has been full-throttle since kick-off, unsurprisingly Celtic have had more of the ball but Rangers are here to play. Malik Tillman has started well and Todd Cantwell has been busy.
8 min: Carter-Vickers shaky start continues. He goes into the book for going through the back of Morelos.
5 min: Kyogo Furuhashi has the ball in the net but he’s well off-side. Tidy finish mind.
3 min: Another sloppy moment at the back for Celtic. This time Cameron Carter-Vickers leaves his back pass short. Had Alfredo Morelos been a little sharper he wouldd have had a big chance, Joe Hart came rushing out and Starfelt had to come across to snuff out the opportunity with his keeper stranded.
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2 min: Aaron Mooy is usually very trustworthy with the ball at his feet but perhaps is still shaking off a bit of post-injury rust. He gives the ball away deep in his own half allowing Ryan Kent to seize it and drive into the box. The cance comes to nothing, Celtic cannot afford to be that sloppy.
1 min: We are underway.
The atmosphere looks electric at Celtic Park, shame there are no Rangers fans in the stadium. That is, frankly, a sad reflection of where things are at. That said, You’ll Never Walk Alone always makes the hairs on the back your stand up.
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Right then, kick-off next.
Just to follow up on the team news, Beale confirms that Goldson injured his hip flexor in training and will have a scan on Monday to asses the damage. “It’s a big loss,” says Beale.
Interesting feature with Michael Beale on Sky, the Rangers head coach says the club effectively stood still last summer and that Postecoglou’s arrival spurred Celtic forward. It was not covincing interview if you are a Rangers fan hoping for a dramatic turnaround this season but Beale is asking to be judged on his work this summer and into the next campaign. Beale clearly wants a major overhaul of the squad before he takes on Celtic again.
The teams
Celtic starting XI: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, Mooy, O’Riley, Jota, Kyogo, Maeda.
Subs: Bain, Haksabanovic, Turnbull, Kobayashi, Oh, Iwata, Bernabei, Welsh, Vata.
Hatate, James Forrest and Liel Abada remain on the sidelines for Celtic.
Rangers starting XI: McGregor, Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Barisic, Jack, Raskin, Cantwell, Tillman, Kent, Morelos.
Subs: McLaughlin, Yilmaz, Lundstram, Hagi, Colak, Kamara, Wright, Sakala, Arfield.
For Rangers, the big surprise is the absence of Connor Goldson, who is replaced by John Souttar. Leon King, Kemar Roofe, Tom Lawrence, Steven Davis and Filip Helander also remain out.
