Summary and match report
Rangers racked up a second win over Celtic in eight days as boos rung around an all-green Parkhead following a 1-0 defeat by Derek McInnes’s men.
Celtic’s 74-year-old boss Martin O’Neill went into the game under the spotlight after two successive losses, including a bruising 3-0 Premier Sports Cup clash with the Gers at Ibrox last Sunday.
To silence a stadium populated with home fans only, Rangers striker Ryan Naderi opened the scoring in the 33rd minute and it was enough for another huge victory for McInnes’s side, who will feel they should have added to that goal after the break.
It was a first Premiership defeat of the season for the home side, who are now just two points ahead of their Old Firm rivals at the top of the table going into the international break with more pressure on O’Neill.
Jonathan Liew’s report from Parkhead is here:
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Ryan Naderi and Olwethu Makhanya spoke to Sky
RN: ““I’m so, so, so happy. I’m happy for the team, we deserve this. It’s unbelievable. I’m honest. I was a bit lucky to be in the right place but that’s what you have to do as a striker, I was there. “
OM: “We also spend a lot of time together, even, like, outside training, we go out together, drink coffee, you know, I feel like we’re family, you know, we spend more time together, we understand each other more. And, you know, that gives us a reason to keep on fighting for one another.”
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Final score: Celtic 0-1 Rangers
That was as comprehensive a win as a 1-0 scoreline can be. Celtic were poor, though so much credit should go to an organised, determined Rangers. A terrible week for Celtic just got worse.
90+3 min: Celtic can’t get the ball off Rangers to find that last chance. They will have to go long. Their advance is slow, Hassan’s cross is decent but Mheuka can’t get to it.
90+2 min: It’s frantic, plenty of collisions in midfield. Rangers show such determination in the tackle, and Finlay Curtis is fouled by a foolish Bauer as time ticks on.
90+1 min: Celtic looking for divine inspiration at this point. They’ve been largely clueless in their chase for an equaliser, so lacking in energy.
90 min: That doesn’t leave much time for Mheuka, on for Scales. Bouanani chases back hard. There will now be four minutes of time added on.
89 min: Celtic are running out of time, and ideas. There’s just three minutes to be added on.
88 min: Raskin fouls Forrest and is booked. The free-kick is taken quickly, with Hassan’s cross whipping wide and beyond everyone.
86 min: Forrest’s shot is deflected after Trusty keeps the ball alive from a corner. Tounekti’s cross for the next corner is decent but Rangers clear, and Sterling comes on to deny Forrest. He has been man of the match. Scales meanwhile, has lost his boot.
85 min: Some Celtic pressure. Hassan’s cross cannot find Scales. Rangers clear, with no little anxiety. Hassan, at least, has looked capable of creating something.
83 min: Rangers continue to close down Celtic, who are made to look deliberate and slow as they try to gain a foothold.
81 min: Scales’ pump down the wing reflects the lack of ideas from Celtic. Tounekti’s cross in is headed away by the improving Fernandez. Hassan’s cross in, aimed for Hogh, evades everyone. Martin O’Neill is not happy about that.
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80 min: It’s still all Rangers, Celtic look tired from their midweek punishment from Ferencvaros. Raskin, who has played well, feints and dips a chip wide. Are you allowed to enjoy playing in an Old Firm game like Rangers are?
79 min: Rangers are stacking up the chances. Celtic have been poor but are still in the game despite having just one chance of the last 10.
77 min: Curtis, the regular sub for Rangers and quite the prospect, wins time by winning a file. Roy Keane is pictured in the crowd. His former club are struggling here.
76 min: Tounekti, on for just seconds, was booked for some kind of stramash during that Rangers goal. He was booked for protesting it was a hand. Which it was. No, me neither.
Goal ruled out! Still Celtic 0-1 Rangers
Celtic fans cheer. It did touch Makhanya’s hand.
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Goal! Celtic 0-2 Rangers (Makhanya, 74)
Naderi’s hard running wins a corner. Curtis will take, and the ball comes out to Makhanya, who improvises and looks to volley in. But…did he use his hand?
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73 min: Baur’s ball finds Hogh, who controls the ball, turns but cannot find anyone in hoops. Next, McGregor is booked for fouling Neil.
71 min: Off go Tierney and Duran for Celtic, Tounetki and Hassan on. For Rangers, Kim and Gassama off, Bouanani and Curtis on.
70 min: Changes are coming from both managers. Celtic badly need something to change.
69 min: The stats tell us that Celtic last touched the ball in the Rangers box in the 46th minute.
67 min: Forrest is robbed by a combo of Sterling and Gassama before Naderi comes back to rob McGregor, who wanted far too much time. There are boos from the home fans.
66 min: Celtic attempt to go on the attack bur despite plenty of space, their touch continues to be off, too long taken, and Rangers can regroup.
65 min: Sterling, outstanding again, makes a fine tackle on a speeding Duran.
64 min: What happened there? Naderi, sliding in, prevents the ball from going in, as chaos descends in the Celtic penalty area.
63 min: This is James Forrest’s 39th derby, he’s also won 13 league titles.
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62 min: ….and Celtic all falling prey to the basics. James Forrest is due to come on, the old reliable, with Nygren going off, shaking his head.
60 min: Feels like Celtic are way off this but somehow still in the game. Rangers need another goal. They almost get it when Naderi escapes through another of those gaps, and plays the ball to Kelsy, who cannot quite slide to it. That was simple stuff.
58 min: Kim fouls Scales and is booked for the concession of a free-kick. Tierney slams in a curving ball that Rangers manage to get clear. The corner is claimed by Pandur after a couple of second balls bounce around the Rangers box.
56 min: Ball aimed at Hogh but he would have required a stepladder to control that. Very little coming off for Celtic.
54 min: Another Rangers chance, Kim finding his way into those great gaps in Celtic’s midfield and firing wide. There was nobody near him; Celtic are way off it here.
53 min: Two Rangers chances, Sinisalo making a meal of a shot from Penrice, and then Sterling whipping over a ball. There’s not much calm in that Celtic defence.
52 min: Rangers pushing on, pressing high, Penrice is leading the press. They can’t find the key pass, Carter-Vickers playing an errant ball. Duran has been withdrawn from his battle with Fernandez, with Hogh to attempt the rough stuff.
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51 min: That prediction that Fernandez would not last beyond the first half has fallen flat. He did get better as the first 45 went on.
50 min: Some respite for Rangers, Penrice taking his time over a throw-in; they’re trying to take a beat, and McInnes is carrying out a rebuild of his team from the sidelines.
48 min: Derek McInnes has a pen in hand, and then starts chewing on it. Bad habit, that. Celtic’s switch offers something for him to work on. They have started with intention and some O’Neil invective to think on, doubtless.
47 min: Hogh will beef up the forward line, where Duran was all alone. That’s taken a man from midfield, if someone who struggled badly.
The second half begins
46 min: A second-half sub, with Kasper Hogh replacing Luke McCowan, who had struggled, for Celtic. Celtic score almost immediately as Pandur makes an amazing save from Colby Donovan.
Half-time: Celtic 0-1 Rangers
Rangers, like last week, by far the better team. They might be leading 2-0 had Gassama’s shot been an inch lower than the bar. Their goal owed much to Rangers being quicker to the ball, while Celtic have been sluggish.
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45+1 min: Just a minute added on, it’s been all-action. Sterling, who has played well, cuts off the danger of a bal aimed for Duran.
45 min: Celtic just cannot piece it together, Tierney slipping over the ball when it was there to be hit. Rangers break again, Raskin’s ball a beauty and Neil, on the charge, unlucky with his shot.
44 min: A dreadful Celtic corner from Baur almost leads to a Rangers breakaway, only for Naderi’s pass to be poor. Derek McInnes is aghast.
43 min: Panic suddenly in the Rangers ranks as Duran, a shining light for Celtic, gets away. It takes a fine Sterling tackle to block off the chance.
41 min: Naderi, full of confidence after his goal, takes the ball down with a gossamer touch but is allowed to do so by a snoozing Trusty. It comes to nothing but Celtic have been way off it.
39 min: McGregor, in a quarter-back role, picks up the ball, and finds little movement ahead of him. That’s greeted by disquiet in the crowd. Celtic look confused, while Rangers have far more clarity in their play.
38 min: The lack of away fans has lent this occasion a hush, with home fans given nothing to react to, Celtic fans now gripped by anxiety as their team misfires. The O’Neill redux has not worked.
36 min: Ooof, so close to 2-0, Gassama hits the woodwork after escaping towards Kim’s pass. Carter-Vickers clears in panic. Rangers showing so much more quality in attack at the moment.
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34 min: The choice of Sinisalo over Sam Johnstone has had ramifications, even allowing for Johnstone’s struggles last week. Derek McInnes made sure to enjoy that goal. Celtic are going for win 175.
Goal! Celtic 0-1 Rangers (Naderi, 33)
Penrice’s corner comes back out, Kim strikes and Naderi seizes in after Sinisalo can only deflect the ball into the striker’s path. Silence descends.
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31 min: You can tell Rangers are attacking as the boos are loud. No away fans allowed, of course.
29 min: Rangers’ turn to build a head of steam? They’re working hard, chasing hard in the midday sun but almost fall prey to a fast break, Nygren playing in Tierney, who unleashes and fires just wide of a grateful Pandur.
27 min: Penrice presses down on Sinisalo. No space offered, and eventually Gassama gets away again, and lays the ball square to Neil, whose shot is deflected into the Celtic keeper’s hands. Gassama has the beating of Donovan.
25 min: Neither team have created what you might term a clear-cut chance. Though that’s as you might expect. Duran spins Fernandez again, and it takes a Raskin foul to stop the Celtic forward.
24 min: Duran and Fernandez clatter into each other, the Celtic man flicking the ball to Tierney who has a sight on goal, only for Sterling to make a timely intervention.
22 min: Simon McMahon gets in touch: “Afternoon John. Celtic can’t be worse than they were last week. That’s not to say they won’t still lose. But if they win they go eight points clear after just seven games. And pass the crisis club baton to their visitors today. Never a dull moment in Scottish football.”
So far, they aren’t worse than last week, but are still a bit scratchy.
21 min: Donovan comes across to stop a Penrice ball that was aimed for Gassama; Rangers still looking for that key pass.
20 min: Baur’s run into the Rangers defence is endemic of Celtic’s revival in recent moments. Rangers look unsettled with Fernandez a problem for them. Will be amazed if he makes it past half-time, either through a red card or being subbed off.
18 min: Three corners for Celtic, the first causing more trouble than the second, the third boomed into the hands of Pandur in the Rangers goal.
17 min: Fernandez, lucky boy? On a yellow, he commits what looks to be a foul, but gets away with knocking over Tierney. He could be off. Perhaps he should be off.
15 min: Rangers clear the corner, and also McGregor’s followup corner, both of which were too airy to cause much concern.
14 min: Rangers still looking for a good final ball, none as good as that from Raskin in the opening moments. There’s roars as Celtic win a corner, when Fernandez falls to the floor in a similar fashion to Gabriel at Brighton yesterday. The referee sees through him.
13 min: Phil Withall gets in touch: “Surely being a manager of an Old Firm team is the most hopeless and unforgiving job to be had? Whatever ever you do isn’t good enough, one loss is the end of the world, a global network of people with more knowledge than you, know better. Whoever Ed Sheran’s PR person is may beg to differ, but why would you put yourself through it?”
12 min: Howls of outrage as Duran is smashed into by Sterling. Tierney has to run back to cover an incursion from Kim, whose cross into the box turns out to be poor.
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10 min: Callum McGregor fouls Dan Neil in a battle of the captains. McGregor does the finger waving thing to correct the referee.
9 min: Is the Celtic refit working? Not as yet, Rangers look more comfortable in midfield, Celtic a little rushed.
8 min: An oasis of brief calm, only for Sinisalo to be chased down when dawdling over a back-pass. Every touch receives a crowd reaction, not bad for so early on a Sunday.
6 min: From the free-kick, Celtic have the ball in the net after Scales flick, Trusty’s volley in, but Scales is offside. So no goal. McInnes got a booking there, by the way. Yes, this is the Old Firm derby alright.
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4 min: Fernandez now booked for Rangers, fouling a galloping Duran, who had escaped. VAR has a look, and it is deemed to be not a last-man foul. Derek McInnes and O’Neill are at each other, with one of the Celtic bench given a yellow.
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3 min: Did Duran almost escape for Celtic? It takes a challenge from Fernandez to stop him. He had switched off.
2 min: Rangers have begun the brighter, Raskin playing the ball to Gassama to hit, and it takes a Donovan tackle top rescue Celtic.
Away we go in Glasgow
1 min: The Celtic fans keep singing YNWA as the game kicks off. The singing turns to boos as Rangers gain possession.
Here comes You’ll Never Walk Alone. Who sang it first? Does it matter? Watch footage from the 1970s and early 1980s and fans of many clubs sing it. It is, though, the song of both Liverpool and Celtic.
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This is the 450th meeting of the two teams, and they are on 174 wins each.
Derek McInnes spoke to the BBC: “I know Celtic have made a load of changes. A lot was made of last week, us having won the battle through the middle of the park, they’ve filled the middle of the pitch today. We just need to make sure that we still try and compete in there, that middle ground is important for us to win.”
O’Neill has replaced Sam Johnstone with Viljami Sinisalo in Celtic’s goal. This is the explanation, Johnstone having played against Rangers last weel: “I feel that with Sam coming newly into the football club, and not having played for some time, I thought that the two games that he played, it would give him experience of the Old Firm game for a start.”
As the Sky pundits suggest, he clearly favours Sinisalo.
Is it actually three at the back? Martin O’Neill, as ever, keeps it mercurial. “We’ve got the options for both - but I’m not sure we’re going to play three or five [at the back]. You’ll find out in about an hour’s time. For years I played three at the back with two wide players. But this is not exactly that system today.”
Derek McInnes also spoke to Sky: “Just because you win the game doesn’t mean it always says you’ve got the tactics right and, equally, when you lose a game, it doesn’t mean it says you’ve got them wrong.
“I think sometimes tactics can get a wee bit overplayed. I do think you normally win games during the individual moments and the performance of players being really high and really strong. We look to do something similar in terms of our approach. We want to make sure the aggression’s there, the confidence is there to play.
“The energy that we displayed last week, these are all the things that are more important than tactics. Hopefully the players go into the game and onto the pitch with that message loud and clear that a big performance is required. You don’t win at Celtic Park unless everybody plays well. We’ve got to try and bring something similar and look for those improvements again.”
Martin O"Neill had the following to say to Sky ahead of the game: “We’re far from rock bottom. We’re still in the lead and if we could win this, we can extend the lead and if we don’t, even by the international break, we’re still going to be in front.
“We’re going to try and put that right if we can. But I know the last time we had an international break was in March time and we played very poorly against Dundee United. So that was, if you can call it a wake-up call or a moment of quiet reflection or whatever the case may be. We turned it round. The players are capable of turning it round.
“It’s a big game, whether it’s played in September or March time. We need to be up for the game. Do we need to win the game? It would be nice to win it, it wouldn’t be great if we lost. That would be three on the trot. Psychologically, it would be a blow. But we need to be up for it.”
Derek McInnes has picked the same starting team from last week’s win at Ibrox. Celtic look to have gone three at the back – the formation that O’Neill had success with first time around at Celtic. Auston Trusty lines up alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales. Kasper Hogh, Haissem Hassan, Oliver Sorensen, and James Forrest are the four players dropped.
The teams
Celtic: Sinisalo, Trusty, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Donovan, Baur, McGregor, Tierney, McCowan, Duran, Nygren. Subs: Johnstone, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hogh, Tounekti, Hassan, Mheuka, Murray, Forrest, Ralston.
Rangers: Pandur, Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Penrice, Kim, Neil, Raskin, Gassama, Naderi, Kelsy. Subs: Kelly, McCrorie, Godfrey, Dragojevic, Devlin, Chukwuani, Curtis, Bouanani, Miovski.
Referee: John Beaton (Scotland)
Rangers are out of Europe after losing their playoffs for the Europa League and Conference League, but their fans may well have enjoyed watching the Europa League this week.
Last time out:
Against a backdrop of bouncing techno from the tannoy, Rangers fans celebrated three memorable goals in a thumping League Cup win. A brace for the captain, Dan Neil, bookended Kevin Kelsy’s second‑half finish to put Martin O’Neill’s side down with relative ease. It also showcased a nascent identity for McInnes’s side, one defined by unbending physical commitment and lots and lots of sprinting. The quality of the football may have been patchy, but the commitment was enough to get the 51,212 home fans at the top of their voices.
Preamble
Another week, another Old Firm/Glasgow derby match. Though the next one isn’t scheduled until 3 January. Rangers won last week, and should they win at Parkhead it could blow open the title race. Hearts divide both teams at the moment in the table, and a bad week for Celtic would be completed by losing to their eternal rivals. Derek McInnes was bought time and credibility by beating Celtic in the League Cup while Martin O’Neill was in cantankerous form before and after the Europa League defeat to Ferencvaros. So, plenty to play for, though there’s always plenty to play for.
Kick-off high noon, Glasgow time. Join me.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 6 | 11 | 18 |
| 2 | Hearts | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 3 | Rangers | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | Dundee | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | St Mirren | 7 | -1 | 10 |
