| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- League race to ten in a row is hotting up, and this is another key game on the run to the title.
- Rangers victory put them on top by goal difference, although goals even at this point.
- Celtic on top much of the match but still lose.
- The SPFA nominations for Player of the Year were out. These were Craig Burley and Jackie McNamara of Celtic, Marco Negri (Rangers) and Steve Fulton (Hearts). The Young Player of the Year award was between Gary Naysmith and Paul Ritchie of Hearts, Barry Ferguson (Rangers) and Craig Easton (Dundee United).
- Wieghorst was out with a calf injury but Stubbs made it back from his twisted knee that had kept him out of the last game.
Review
Yet again looking the better side in the derby game and getting picked off by two break-like goals.
This could have been a Tommy Burns game against Rangers.
The result put Celtic and Rangers level on points but Rangers ahead on goal difference at the top of the league.
Teams
Rangers:
Goram, Cleland, Albertz, Gough, Amoruso, Bjorklund, Thern, McCoist, Durie (Gattuso ,71 ), McCall, Laudrup
Subs not used: Durrant, Negri,
Scorers: Thern (24), Albertz (66)
Bookings: Amoruso, Bjorklund, Cleland, Durie (Rangers)
Celtic:
Gould , Boyd , Annoni, Donnelly, Rieper , Stubbs , Larsson , Burley , Jackson (Brattbakk ,23) Lambert, O'Donnell
Subs not used: Hannah , McKinlay,
Bookings: Annoni, Larsson, O'Donnell (Celtic)
Referee – H Dallas (Motherwell).
Attendance: 50,042
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Rangers | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls | 18 | 21 |
| Shots on Target | 6 | 3 |
| Corners | 5 | 7 |
| Offside | 2 | 5 |
Champions jealously guard prize possession
The Scotsman 13/04/1998
GLENN GIBBONS
Rangers 2 Thern (24), Albertz (66)
Celtic 0
RANGERS continue to give the impression that they have taken out a freehold on the Scottish League championship, still capable of making the payments that preclude the possibility of dispossession.
Nothing Celtic can do, it would seem, can dislodge champions who tend to see trespassers off the premises with the meanness and resolve of a squire with a shotgun.
Even on those days, like yesterday, when the Parkhead side swarm all over them, Rangers are capable of producing moments of menace that are enough to remove the danger and leave themselves unmolested. The Parkhead side seem capable of getting past the guards without breaking into the house.
They are then picked off at their rear, in this instance by Jonas Thern and Jorg Albertz.
There are times during these games when Rangers' advantage appears inexplicable, except by some abstract notion that they simply have what it takes to get there.
None of the Ibrox players had made an impression on the match by the time Thern scored the first after 24 minutes, while Albertz's second was also conjured out of nothing midway through the second half.
The most shocking aspect of Thern's goal was that it should arrive at a time when Celtic were so clearly in control of the game that it was difficult to imagine how Rangers could make an impact.
The kind of strike which the Swede produced, of course,transcends all patterns, rhythms and formations, leaving the onlooker reminded once again of the quirky nature of the game.
It was from a free kick on the left that Lorenzo Amoruso played the ball towards the penalty spot, where Marc Rieper, once again in command, headed it out of the area. Thern met it on the volley with his right foot from 25 yards' range and the ball hurtled high to the right of Jonathan Gould.
The noise which acclaimed Rangers' improbable lead was surely suffused by surprise and, possibly, relief, as the home team had been unarguably subdued by Celtic for almost all of the time that preceded it.
This is not to suggest that the visitors caused Andy Goram constant bother – indeed, there was very little goalmouth activity at either end during the first half – but they were ahead of the champions in thought, movement, pace and execution of the passes that gave them the bulk of the possession.
Perhaps the primary reason for Celtic's shortage of threat in the vicinity of the home goal was the extreme patience that marked their game. Wim Jansen, the head coach, seemed to have decided that the best way to beat Rangers was to play the way that has brought the Ibrox side nine successive titles – and regular, significant victories in Old Firm matches.
Jansen must also have looked at Walter Smith's 4-3-3 deployment of his team and realised that Rangers, more in need of all three points, would make the running. It seemed for long enough to suit Celtic's purpose admirably.
There was an unmissable invitation from the visitors to their old rivals to come forward, where Rieper, Tom Boyd, Alan Stubbs and Enrico Annoni – the last-named once again putting the bite on Brian Laudrup -coped quite comfortably.
From that base of winning the ball, Celtic were able to control a midfield in which Stuart McCall, Albertz and Thern were basically outnumbered by Craig Burley, Paul Lambert, Phil O'Donnell and Simon Donnelly.
Those Rangers supporters who sat uncomfortably in the stands watching their side lose most of the contested balls in that area gave the unmistakable impression of anxiety.
Thern's goal not only transformed the mood of the home support, but the pattern of play itself, switching the emphasis from caginess to adventurousness. The result, predictably, was a notable increase in the number of incidents in the goal areas.
In fact, Rangers contrived another scare within a minute of scoring, when McCall's pass released Albertz and, from long range, the German thundered a drive which Gould had to beat down and out.
Celtic's threat seemed to intensify, too, when Lambert volleyed over after Stubbs's chip had been headed out to the midfielder and when Burley sent a right-foot drive just wide from O'Donnell's low centre from the left.
There is little doubt that Celtic were not helped by the enforced removal of the physically durable Darren Jackson from attack and the arrival of the wispy, largely ineffective Harald Brattbakk.
This put an impossible burden on Henrik Larsson, the little Swede having to do most of the forward work on his own. As the game progressed, Larsson was ever more marginalised, playing wide on the left as he searched for space from which to offer a contribution.
Despite their general lack of threat up front, however, Celtic did contrive two incidents before Albertz's goal from which they should have altered the course of the match.
The first came from Donnelly's corner kick on the right, Burley heading the ball to the right of the goalmouth to Rieper. The Dane nodded it back across to the unmarked Stubbs and the defender headed towards the roof of the net. Goram stretched to tip the ball over.
The second pivotal moment came with Lambert's drive into the penalty area from the right, taking out the entire defence, including Goram. With Burley unattended and yelling for the cut-back, Lambert opted to shoot, but became unbalanced on the point of contact and sliced the ball wide when the chance seemed unmissable.
It was in that instant that the visiting support must have realised that they were in for another bad day. The loss of the second goal, allowing Rangers to top the Premier Division on goal difference, confirmed their fears.
Albertz carried the ball half the length of the pitch, challenged by Burley, who slipped as the German drove forward. Stubbs must have known that the German needs the ball on his left to be most effective, but swayed the other way.
This allowed Albertz to switch the ball to his favoured foot and it was driven low to the left of Gould from 15 yards. It could yet prove to be the decisive moment in which Rangers secured their tenth successive title.
- Manager Interview
"We know that we now have to win the remaining four games if we are to win the League.
"But the four teams we have to play also need to win. We also have to remember that it could go to goal difference so we will have to score a lot of goals."
"As of Monday we start preparing for Motherwell. Every game coming up is nothing less than a cup final and we know that we have to win them all.
"At Ibrox we lost the game in the second half when it was not necessary. For the second goal we gave away far too much space. The whole week we spoke about Albertz because he scored against us at Celtic Park, but we did it again and he scored again."