| Match Pictures | Matches: 2000 – 2001 | 2000-2001 Pictures |
Trivia:
- Morten Wieghorst was moved out of intensive care in his effort to get back to fitness following an attack by Guillain-Barre syndrome which at one point saw him on a ventilator.
- Stewart Kerr went down to Wales to look at the offer made by Cardiff City. Cardiff were managed by Bobby Gould, Jonathon’s father.
- Stilijan Petrov agreed a new 4-year deal with the club, raisng his salary by four times the amount he had been on.
- Ex Celtic midfielder John O’Neill joined Ross County on a short term contract. He had been out of contract this season, having left Bournemouth , and had been training with Ross County. Another ex-Bhoy Gerry Creaney joined Tommy Coyne at Clydebank.
Review:
Larsson scored with a good wee header from an Alan Thompson corner. This equalised the game at 1-1. From there, it all went downhill… Going into the game there was the prospect of an intriguing tie. Rangers were a distant third in the League and their results had not been good. However a number of their players were returning from injury and they had just spent £12million signing Tore Andre Flo from Chelsea. The Bhoys had yet to lose domestically this season but had not won at Ibrox for 13 games.
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Teams:
Rangers:
Klos, Konterman, Wilson, Amoruso, Reyna, de Boer (Tugay 86), Ferguson, Albertz, Numan, Miller (Mols 60),Flo (McCann 86).
Subs Not Used: Christensen, Ross.Booked: Reyna, Wilson, Amoruso.
Goals: Ferguson 34, Flo 60, de Boer 68, Amoruso 76, Mols 85.
Booked: Reyna, Wilson, Amoruso (Rangers)
Celtic:
Douglas, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby (Mahe 46), Agathe, Thompson, Petrov, Moravcik (McNamara 46), Petta, Larsson, Sutton (Johnson 86).
Subs Not Used: Gould, Healy.
Goals: Larsson 56.
Booked: Valgaeren, Thompson, Sutton, McNamara (Celtic)
Sent Off: Thompson (64).
Attendance: 50,083
Referee: K Clark (Scotland).
Match Report
Rangers hit Celtic with a five-star mauling
The Scotsman 27/11/2000
Glenn Gibbons at Ibrox
Rangers 5 Ferguson (34), Flo (60), de Boer (68), Amoruso (76), Mols (85)
Celtic 1 Larsson (56)
Referee: K Clark. Attendance: 50,083
ONE swallow may not make a summer, but Rangers supporters leaving Ibrox at the end of this overwhelmingly deserved victory would swear they could hear the distinctive flapping of an entire flock. Celtic fans with a sarcastic streak would be wondering how their team will be able to live with the shame of being only 12 points ahead of their fiercest rivals in the chase for the championship.
During an era in which the Old Firm partners appear to have an eccentric capacity for inflicting wide-margin defeats on each other at home – scorelines of 5-1, 6-2 and 4-0 have become regular occurrences – it would seem that the most reliable perspective to be brought to these collisions would have to derive from a look at their respective positions in the SPL as a reference point.
On the last occasion yesterday's scoreline was recorded, in Celtic's favour at Parkhead two years ago, Rangers had gone into the game at the top of the league, remained there after taking an embarrassing mauling and had still not been budged by allcomers by the end of the season.
This latest savaging was no less humiliating for Celtic, who appeared unlikely throughout the match to justify the high expectations of their followers, but the proper test of their resilience will be presented by others in the coming weeks. Martin O'Neill had almost prepared the way for this first domestic defeat of his tenure by insisting that it was not only inevitable, but that it would tell him what he wanted to know of his players' mental toughness.
The Irishman surely would not welcome the opportunity to make this voyage of discovery on the back of such a comprehensive reversal, but he has, since his arrival, impressed as a character who would not allow one thrashing on a bad day to infect the psyche of players who had previously demonstrated a hardness of spirit that has made them long odds-on to win the league title.
He had not been drowned in a flood of optimism and self-praise when his team won the great fixture 6-2 back in August, his comments since that day, in fact, now assuming the appearance of the utterances of a clairvoyant. "What that result did for us was to show we could compete with Rangers on the day, and when everything goes right."
O'Neill had stressed that there would be another kind of day, when Rangers would be the beneficiaries, and it began to unfold at lunchtime yesterday. As most of these apparently lopsided affairs are, it was something of a curiosity, another example of the kind of role reversal which has marked this bizarre season.
The incontestable view that Rangers should have been two goals ahead by the time the match was four minutes old testified to the most surprising aspect of the game, which was Celtic's lack of self-certainty. This was the one quality which had been their most formidable ally in the previous 16 unbeaten outings in the league, but seemed to have deserted them.
In any pre and post-Old Firm match assessment, clichés are always within easy reach, and the one which says that the team with the greater urge to win, the one who wants it more, probably will triumph, invariably proves to be the soundest. There is no question that, from the opening whistle, Rangers had the deeper desire.
Yet, having squandered those earlier opportunities, they took the lead at a time when they had lost their control of the game and through a little lax refereeing from Kenny Clark. When Rangers were awarded a free kick near the touchline in front of the dug-outs, Arthur Numan clearly took it some ten yards in advance of where the offence had been committed.
As O'Neill, with justification, screamed from the technical area that it should be brought back, Clark turned his back and Rangers turned his leniency into gold. The ball was played out to Claudio Reyna, whose slipped pass to the intelligently-running Barry Ferguson allowed the Rangers captain to collect it in his stride, drift wide of Joos Valgaeren and finish with a perfect, low shot to the right of Robert Douglas from 12 yards.
It was entirely appropriate that Reyna should make such a contribution to the move which brought the home side their due. His inclusion at right wing-back as Dick Advocaat matched up to Celtic's 3-5-2 formation was, especially in the first half, the single most influential factor in Rangers' ascendancy.
The American not only subdued the previously rampant Bobby Petta, but played with such cunning that he was able to present a threat in forward areas. This was not in the Celtic script, O'Neill and the club's supporters having become accustomed to watching opponents kept relentlessly pre-occupied with trying to put a clamp on their marauding left wing-back.
In central defence, Lorenzo Amoruso, to the obvious gratification of the home support, chose to have one of his heroic days, quick to snuff out the threat of Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson, his only aberration arriving when he missed the corner kick from Alan Thompson on the right which allowed the Swede to bullet a header past Stefan Klos which gave Celtic an improbable equaliser.
Amoruso was undoubtedly helped in his assignment by the sluggishness of Sutton, who appeared far from peak fitness, but the big Italian could do no more than impose unchallenged authority in his penalty area and deserves credit for a towering performance.
Sutton's lumbering ineffectiveness, like the dismissal of Thompson for a second caution with the score at 2-1, was no excuse for Celtic, however, as Rangers, if anything, appeared to have even more players not at their strongest or sharpest. Numan, de Boer and the œ12 million man, Tore Andre Flo, all appeared out of touch, but it did not prevent the last two from making the scoring credits.
Flo had restored Rangers' lead by knocking the ball into the net with his heel after Jorg Albertz had headed a de Boer corner against the bar and the Dutchman produced the third goal with a back-post header from Albertz's corner on the right. Amoruso capped his performance by heading the fourth, another gift from an Albertz corner, and Michael Mols, who had replaced Kenny Miller after an hour, slotted home the fifth after a smart combination between Albertz and de Boer.
With Ferguson controlling midfield virtually throughout and Celtic never doing enough to offer genuine menace to Klos, this was indisputably Rangers' day. What they require now is many more like it before they will have proved that full-blown salvation can spring from a single act of redemption.
Managers Comments
Martin O’Neill post match:
"Rangers deserved to beat us, but I don't think any manager likes to concede goals as cheaply as we did today. We defended poorly from corners but Rangers were the better side.
"Their first attack came in the first minute and was made up of a break down our penalty box and they moved sweetly across. Flo, who is an excellent player, missed it, but we might have found ourselves a goal behind and the tone of the game could have been set from that.
"We didn't play well enough to cause any problems in the first half. Of course, Rangers were up for the game, but we can play much better.
"At 1-1, we needed a period of 10 minutes without conceding. If we had managed that, Rangers might have got anxious. Rangers are a very strong side – there is no doubt about that – but we had full intention of winning this game and we were full of confidence. It's not the end of the world – or maybe it is. The run is over, let's get started again. It's going to be tight but I believed that before the season started and, in fact, would have been delighted if we had made it tight.
"Rangers mean business and have showed that by spending #12m on a player and they won't give up lightly."
"We came into the game with plenty of confidence, and that got wounded today, but I've always said that Rangers are a very strong side, there is no doubt about that. If you had said at the start of the season that we'd be anywhere near Rangers at this stage I would have been delighted. Now if we go into the winter break a point ahead at the top that's fine."
Pictures
Stats:
| Rangers | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 3 | 4 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 1 |
| Fouls | 20 | 16 |
| Shots on Target | 6 | 4 |
| Corners | 4 | 3 |
| Offside | 1 | 0 |
Individual Player Ratings:
RAB DOUGLAS . . . . . . .5
Couple of decent saves but frozen to his line for goals two, three and four. Will have to wipe this game from the memory if he is to succeed at Parkhead.
TOM BOYD . . . . . . . . . . .5
Was part of a defence which was pulled all over the park. Had to thank Douglas for superb save to spare him from the agony of notching an OG.
JOOS VALGAEREN . . . .7
One of Celtic's few successes but was surprisingly posted missing during the corner kick blitzkreig which saw Rangers storm into a 4-1 lead. Booked for a foul on Ferguson.
JOHAN MJALLBY . . . . . .5
Involved in what was almost a calamitous clash with Douglas in three minutes and unusually shaky after. Injury forced him to stay inside at half-time.
DIDIER AGATHE . . . . . .7
Worked tirelessly on the Celtic right but too much of his best work was in defensive areas because of Rangers dominance.
STILIAN PETROV . . . . .6
Could not get to grips with a Rangers midfield which ran the show from the outset although had decent penalty claim when his shot was charged down by Ferguson.
ALAN THOMPSON . . . .5
A day the Geordie will want to forget. Set-up Larsson's goal but was red carded after two ugly fouls on Ferguson who was dictating play.
LUBOMIR MORAVCIK …4
The veteran was a lost soul throughout a first half on which he failed to make any kind of impact. Replaced by Jackie McNamara at half time.
BOBBY PETTA . . . . . . .5
Unable to repeat the dazzling performance which did so much damage to Fernando Ricksen in the 6-2 game. Reyna hardly gave him a kick.
CHRIS SUTTON . . . . . . .6
Started as if he meant business but was simply outplayed by Amoruso. Enthralling battle between the two until Sutton threw his rattle out of the pram. Booked in 48 minutes and lucky not to follow Thompson off.
HENRIK LARSSON . . . .5
Unbelievably quiet. Still managed to head Celtic's goal in 56 minutes but that was the one time he managed to escape the shadow of Scott Wilson.
JACKIE McNAMARA . .4
Asked to play as an anchorman in midfield for the second half and never looked comfortable. Booked for bad foul on Ferguson.
STEPHANE MAHE . . . .4
On for Mjallby at half-time but did nothing to stop the Rangers onslaught.
TOMMY JOHNSON . . . .3
Replaced Sutton in 85 minutes. No time to make an impact.
Rangers 5 Celtic 1 By Jon West, PA Sport
Rangers amazing rollercoaster of a season took another sensational twist when they demolished a previously-unbeaten Celtic team at Ibrox.
The shame of August's 6-2 mauling at Celtic Park was exorcised with five goals, four of which came after the break and three after Celtic midfielder Alan Thompson had been sent off for his second bookable assault on Barry Ferguson.
Tore Andre Flo, Rangers' £12million signing from Chelsea last week, marked a debut with a goal, an instinctive back-heel after Jorg Albertz's header had cannoned off the bar.
That made the score 2-1 and when it was closely followed by Thompson's dismissal, the result was never in question.
Ferguson was inspirational in midfield and at the back so was the man he had deposed as skipper, Lorenzo Amoruso, who headed home the fifth goal and won an often brutal physical battle with Chris Sutton.
Ferguson had opened the scoring in the first half when there was no hint of what was to come as Rangers, although the better team, had only been marginally superior to the visitors.
But Celtic had never been too adventurous and when Henrik Larsson headed home an equaliser from a corner, it seemed that the luck was still with Martin O'Neill's team.
But Flo's goal came just two minutes later, not long after Ronald de Boer made it three with Amoruso and substitute Michael Mols making sure the advantage of an extra man was converted into goals.
Where this leaves the two teams is still anybody's guess.
Celtic are still clear leaders and boast a 12-point cushion over their cross-city rivals, who now move into third place ahead of Kilmarnock.
It may end up having zero effect on the destiny of the Scottish Premier League title, but Rangers certainly will not be thinking that way tonight.
The defending champions have another must-win game on Thursday – the home leg of their UEFA Cup clash with Kaiserslautern.
So at least the direction, if not the final destination, that their season is set to take will be become clear in the next few days.
Rangers had not even tried to deny beforehand that this was a game they had to win and they started as though the game plan was to wrap it up in the first five minutes.
Sensationally, that pipedream almost became a reality as Flo and then de Boer spurned juicy opportunities.
Claudio Reyna returned to the team on the right side of midfield following more than a month out through injury, primarily to prevent a repetition Bobby Petta's roasting of Fernando Ricksen back in August.
But the American also provides a creative outlet and it was his pass that set £12million-man Flo away on goal in only the second minute.
Rab Douglas came out of his goal to meet him, but it was the Scottish record signing who got there first only to stab the ball agonisingly wide.
Douglas has ousted Jonathan Gould as Celtic's number one choice, but was directly responsible for Rangers' next chance two minutes later when he somehow allowed a routine punt downfield from Lorenzo Amoruso to reach de Boer.
Douglas was nowhere and the Dutchman knew it as he spun round to fire at the unprotected goal, but his effort was too high and a great chance was spurned.
It was a whirlwind start to such a passionate encounter, but it was not long before the crunching tackles went in.
Reyna was booked for cutting down Petta and Barry Ferguson, Joos Valgaren and Alan Thompson were also to go into the referee's notebook before the break.
Thompson fired a couple of long-rangers that constituted his side's most potent efforts before the interval, but it was Ferguson who was to break the deadlock in the 35th minute with a strike of real class.
Reyna was once more the architect, cutting in from the right and he spotted the young skipper's burst through from midfield.
Ferguson had timed it perfectly as he took the pass in his stride. There was no challenger and he calmly stroked the ball past Douglas.
More bookings quickly followed after the re-start as the challenges continued to fly in, but ironically it was a perfectly-timed tackle that cost Rangers the equaliser.
Thompson was getting ready to shoot after Petta had picked him out in the box, but Arthur Numan made a sliding tackle in the nick of time.
But the defending from the corner was woeful and Larsson, who otherwise had a quiet game, thumped in a header.
The stakes were never higher and Rangers replied with Flo's back-heeled goal after Albertz's header from a de Boer corner had hit the bar.
Thompson was dismissed soon after and Rangers made it 3-1 from another corner when Albertz found the head of de Boer at the far post.
A pattern had been set and Amoruso headed the fourth from another Albertz flag kick.
The fifth was a sweeping move which underlined Celtic's paralysis from lack of numbers, with Albertz sending de Boer away down the left and his cross picked out the on-rushing Mols, who marked his Old Firm debut with a quality finish.
"We want six", chanted the home fans. They did not get it, but none went home too disappointed.
Teams
Rangers: Klos, Konterman, Wilson, Amoruso, Reyna, de Boer (Tugay 86), Ferguson, Albertz, Numan, Miller (Mols 60),Flo (McCann 86).
Subs Not Used: Christensen, Ross.Booked: Reyna, Wilson, Amoruso.
Goals: Ferguson 34, Flo 60, de Boer 68, Amoruso 76, Mols 85.
Celtic: Douglas, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby (Mahe 46), Agathe, Thompson, Petrov, Moravcik (McNamara 46), Petta, Larsson, Sutton (Johnson 86).
Subs Not Used: Gould, Healy.
Sent Off: Thompson (64).
Booked: Valgaeren, Thompson, Sutton, McNamara.
Goals: Larsson 56.
Att: 50,083
Ref: K Clark (Scotland).