1995-05-07: Celtic 3-0 Rangers, Premier Division

The Herald (Glasgow)
May8, 1995
Keeper's red card is final straw forRangers Celticshine brightly as champions lack lustre

BYLINE:James Traynor

Celtic3,Rangers0

CLEARLY, with their manager, Walter Smith, out of town most of last week in pursuit of Paul Gascoigne,Rangers'players obviously thought holiday time had arrived and, in fact, they played like tourists in an environment for the first time as they wandered around Hampden Park whileCelticran away with the points.

Of course, with a seventh consecutive championship safely back in the Ibrox trophy room,Rangershad no real need of more points, but pride alone should have stirred them to greater effort than they produced yesterday.Billy Thomson didn't so much give up as capitulate when he was dismissed after having fouled Brian McLaughlin nine minutes from time. TheCelticwinger was about to round the keeper when he was hauled down, leaving referee Les Mottram with only one choice.

Celtic, of course, have much to play for yet and their comfortable triumph in the season's final Old Firm game will strengthen their confidence for the Tennents Scottish Cup final against Airdrie on May 27, when the atmosphere at Hampden will be much more charged than it was yesterday.Only 31,025 supporters showed up, which suggestedRangers'fans also had decided the season was over, while a number ofCeltic'sfollowers will be conserving energies and money for the cup final.

Those who stayed away missed little in the first half withCelticreserving their best for the second period, during which they scored all of their goals, with Pierre van Hooydonk leading the way. His goal was his seventh forCelticand he was especially pleased, since he was making his Old Firm debut.

The two other goals came courtesy of an own goal by Craig Moore and a 25-yard free kick from Rudi Vata.

It was a pass from McStay early in the match which first broughtCeltic'sfollowers to their feet, and his precise delivery found Simon Donnelly, who touched shoulders with Alan McLaren. TheRangersman went down, leaving the young striker clear inside the box. However, his shot was poor and Thomson had only to drop down and smother the ball.

Pat Bonner's task in grasping Mark Hateley's swerving shot from just outside the penalty box was equally straightforward, but the ease with which the striker had escaped Brian O'Neil was alarming.

Collins might have found the net first after he had intercepted a poorly directed pass by Alex Cleland, but the midfield player, who ran unchallenged to the edge of the box, shot a yard wide.

John Brown, who body-checked McLaughlin and was booked, injured himself in the process and hobbled off, with Neil Murray pressed into action after 27 minutes. O'Neil became the second player booked after he had tripped Laudrup and then the Dane had to suffer a degree of ridicule after he had tried a back-heel pass which went wrong.Celtic'sfans jeered him roundly, but he took it all in good humour, bowing to them almost apologetically. Such banter is unusual in Old Firm matches, but it added to the peculiarity of the atmosphere of this one.

However, it became much more like the real thing five minutes into the second half whenCelticscored a splendid goal, engineered by the diminutive McLaughlin, who had darted throughRangers'defence on the left. The winger looked up and rolled the ball across the edge of the 18-yard line to van Hooydonk, who beat Thomson to his right with a low shot.

SuddenlyCeltic'sfans were ecstatic and 10 minutes later they were lifted to even greater heights of joy when Craig Moore hooked the ball into his own net. Simon Donnelly had been released on the right by McStay and when his cross curled intoRangers'box, the unfortunate full back, whose balance was all wrong, tried to clear but turned the ball into Thomson's net.

Five minutes later Donnelly limped off and Willie Falconer took over, and soon afterwardsRangerstook off Ian Ferguson and sent on Mikhailichenko.Celtic'ssecond substitution was made 15 minutes from the end when Phil O'Donnell relieved van Hooydonk.

Rangersmay have felt two goals was to be the extent of their punishment but Rudi Vata added to the misery by scoring from a direct free kick 25 yards from goal nine minutes from the end. Cleland had handled the ball and Vata surprised everyone, including himself, by beating Thomson with a low shot which crept in low at the keeper's left-hand post.

Thomson was probably relieved when the referee sent him off for his foul on McLaughlin.

The Independent
May8, 1995, Monday
Celticsave the best till last; Celtic 3 Rangers 0

BYLINE:David McKinney

SECTION:SPORT; Page 30

Celtickept their best for the end, finishing their year-long tenancy of Hampden in style with the most comprehensive win over their arch-rivals for several years.Goals from Pierre Van Hooijdonk and Rudi Vata, plus an own-goal from Craig Moore tore the heart out of theRangers'defence, and to add to their misery Billy Thomson, their goalkeeper, was sent off for bringing down Brian McLaughlin.

An uninspired first half gave little clue to the drama which was to unfold in the second period, as both sides struggled in terms of creativity. The breakthrough came about courtesy of the trickery of McLaughlin, who evaded two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before squaring the ball to Van Hooijdonk, who took aim and rifled the ball into the corner of the net.

Ten minutes later,Celticwere gifted a second goal by the unfortunate Moore. The Australian full-back shot into his own net in attempting to clear a cross from Simon Donnelly.Vata added a third goal with a free-kick which slipped through the hands of Thomson eight minutes from time, and shortly afterwards theRangersgoalkeeper was shown a red card when he took McLaughlin out of the play after the winger had pushed the ball beyond him and looked destined to score.

Rarely over the last few years haveRangerslooked so out of touch over 90 minutes, and even Brian Laudrup, who was last night presented with the Scottish football writer's Player of the Year trophy, failed to rise to the occasion.

Tommy Burns, theCelticmanager, said: "I was delighted, particularly for the supporters, because we have put them on an emotional roller-coaster all season, but we proved today that on any given day we are at least as good asRangers.We just have to do it more often."

The Scotsman
May8, 1995, Monday
Old Firm derby:Celticdefy all logic

BYLINE:By Hugh Keevins

A SEASON which has been devoid of logic yesterday continued with another statistical curio.Celtic, for the first time since their double-winning season in 1987-88, have taken more points, seven in all, from games againstRangersthan their rivals.It was also the first time this season thatCeltichad scored three goals in a league match and it might have been four if Brian McLaughlin had not been brought down by theRangersgoalkeeper, Billy Thomson.
Thomson, playing in his first Glasgow derby, was sent off for that foul on the day an Old Firm game was won by goals scored by a Dutchman, an Australian and an Albanian.

Rangers, meanwhile, suffered nothing more harmful than a reduction of their lead overCelticin what we still call, out of a sense of tradition, the championship, to 21 points.The Ibrox club were also forced, in the same weekend as their interest in Paul Gascoigne was made public, to withstand derision from aCelticsupport relishing a rare opportunity for a bit of full-blooded sarcasm.

Rangers, who have now lost five goals and taken no points from their last two games, obviously cannot wait for the season which has given them their seventh successive championship to end.

It was a meaningless game for them and they played in a perfunctory manner, whileCeltichad their sleeves rolled up from the start inside the ground where, five days earlier, they had looked utterly hapless while losing three goals and three points to Partick Thistle.It is yesterday's type of form that Tommy Burns' side will need to find against Airdrie in the Scottish Cup final if they are to avoid the indignity of losing successive trophies to First Division teams in the same season.

Hampden, incidentally, was 3,000 supporters under capacity, another Old Firm rarity. Derby games which nobody really cares about, apart from the zealous who kept up a defamatory din throughout, can provide a spectacle of unique proportions.Humour, for instance, is an ingredient normally absent from these occasions, but Brian Laudrup injected some foreign culture to prove he may not yet fully understand the mean- spiritedness which disfigures the meetings of these rivals.

The man who was last night presented with his award for being Scotland's player of the year twice tried, but failed, to execute back-heels.

TheCelticfans' response was one of ecstasy at seeing Laudrup humbled, but the player disarmed them by applauding, and then bowing, in their direction.Before and after Laudrup's conciliatory gesture, the old rituals were observed. There was, for instance, the obligatory controversy over penalty kicks denied to both teams. John Brown blatantly fouled Pierre van Hooijdonk, but the referee was somehow as unconvinced as he was that Brian O'Neil had impeded Mark Hateley off the ball at the other end during the first half.

Brown, incidentally, had a curious day. He was madeRangerscaptain in the absence of Richard Gough, booked for a foul on McLaughlin and immediately replaced by Neil Murray before play could be resumed. All of this took place in the first 28 minutes.The match's progress between Brown's removal andCeltic'sfirst goal was as insipid as it had been beforeRangersheld up the substitute's board.

Van Hooijdonk's finish was the genuine article, though.

McLaughlin ran across the face ofRangers'defence and stabbed a pass to the Dutchman who, with a shimmy, lost his marker, Alan McLaren, before dispatching a ferocious shot beyond Thomson.Celtic'ssecond goal was as fortuitous as their first had been praiseworthy. There was a finely-judged pass from Paul McStay to Simon

Donnelly and then a run which saw the youngster outpace McLaren.
The final pass, though, was going nowhere until Craig Moore lost his bearings and turned the ball over his own line.

Celtic'sthird goal, with seven minutes left, was even more bizarre. A free kick from Rudi Vata was curled behindRangers'defensive wall and went through Thomson's hands.

There was even worse to come for the goalkeeper when, two minutes later, he was sent off for bringing down McLaughlin as he bore down on goal.
Ally Maxwell replaced Thomson and Laudrup was the outfield player sacrificed for the replacement goalkeeper. Incongruity rules.