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Trivia
- Three red cards in the dying seconds provided an explosive ending to Wednesday night's CIS Insurance Cup semi-final.
- Larsson who was reckoned to be better than Gabriel Batistuta by Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, was the beneficiary of the softest of spot-kicks.
Review
Sutton struck after six minutes, hooking into an empty net after Ramon Vega had outjumped Tore Andre Flo as they challenged for Alan Thompson's free-kick to the far post.
Larsson's goal was much more memorable and came at the expense of rookie centre-back Robert Malcolm. The 20-year-old found Larsson at his back when a long, high ball came down into the Rangers box. Larsson gave him the gentlest of nudges and as Malcolm went to ground the Swede lofted the ball over exposed goalkeeper Stefan Klos and ran on to touch it into the net as it came back down. It would have gone in anyway.
Scott Wilson then hit the turf after a nudge of a challenge in the box, this time from Sutton. But this time it was to Rangers' advantage as it was at the Celtic end and Jorg Albertz had no trouble converting an unexpected penalty. It looked like a soft award.
The final minutes of the first half were notable for the sight of Claudio Reyna twice sending Paul Lambert crashing to the floor. Reyna was booked for the first but seemed to have played both man and ball for the second and he was quick to accuse the Celtic man of making a meal of the challenge.
Then came the decision that settled the destiny of the match and tilted the scales of domination in Glasgow further to the green and white side. Larsson and Wilson were having an intriguing tussle that was also physical, as was proven when both needed treatment after a clash of heads. But when Larsson went to ground in the box with Wilson at his back, it was a surprise that Young then pointed to the spot. It looked like a gimme to cancel out the poor pedigree of the earlier penalty but when the Rangers protests finally died away Larsson wasted no time or energy slotting home goal number 37 of his amazing season.
Celtic could afford to take off the Swede now and he was put into cold storage for Sunday's Old Firm league clash at Parkhead, the match that could decide the destiny of the title there and then.
All that remained was for those reckless challenges to mature into red cards and the final few minutes saw Reyna and substitute Michael Mols plus Celtic replacement Lubo Moravcik shown the exit.
Reyna's demise mirrored his side's loss of discipline as he chased Petta and finally brought him down at the second attempt. Mols and Moravcik, two most unlikely brawlers, were ejected next.
Teams
Celtic:-
Gould, Boyd (Johnson 90), Mjallby, Vega, McNamara (Petta 45), Lambert, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson, Larsson (Moravcik 75), Sutton.
Subs not used:- Kharine, Tebily.
Goals:- Sutton 6, Larsson 17, 69 pen.
Sent Off:- Moravcik 90.
Booked:- McNamara, Thompson.
Rangers:-
Klos, Malcolm, Wilson, Konterman, Tugay (Johnston 45), Numan, Reyna, Ferguson, Albertz, Flo, McCann (Mols 59).
Subs not used:- Ricksen, Miller, Brown.
Goals:- Albertz 37 pen.
Sent Off:- Reyna 90, Mols 90.
Booked:- Reyna, Konterman, Johnston, Klos, Albertz, Ferguson.
Att:- 50,000
Ref:- W Young.
Articles
Pictures
Celtic 3 Rangers 1
By Jon West, PA Sport
Three red cards in the dying seconds provided an explosive ending to Wednesday night's CIS Insurance Cup semi-final but the real story of Celtic's 3-1 victory was the penalty won and converted by Henrik Larsson.
The Swede, who was reckoned to be better than Gabriel Batistuta by Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, was the beneficiary of the softest of spot-kicks.
Referee Willie Young's decisions were consistently baffling and Celtic can argue it mirrored a dubious award in favour of Scott Wilson, who was the man allegedly at fault at the other end.
Larsson had no trouble converting it to bring his domestic goal tally to 37 with more than two months of the season still to run.
The holders will now take on Kilmarnock in the final with the prospects of a clean sweep of trophies in Martin O'Neill's first season at Parkhead very much on.
An Ibrox thrashing apart, just about everything has gone Celtic's way so far this season and the opening minutes of this encounter were no different.
Within 18 minutes of referee Young blowing his whistle to start the match the cup holders and league leaders were holding a two-goal advantage over the ailing champions.
There were no surprises for guessing the names of the scorers as Chris Sutton and then Larsson took advantage of the frailties of a makeshift Rangers defence.
Sutton struck after six minutes, hooking into an empty net after Ramon Vega had outjumped Tore Andre Flo as they challenged for Alan Thompson's free-kick to the far post.
Larsson's goal was much more memorable and came at the expense of rookie centre-back Robert Malcolm.
The 20-year-old, whose girlfriend is the current Miss Scotland, found Larsson at his back when a long, high ball came down into the Rangers box.
Larsson gave him the gentlest of nudges and as Malcolm went to ground the Swede lofted the ball over exposed goalkeeper Stefan Klos and ran on to touch it into the net as it came back down. It would have gone in anyway.
Malcolm was the third man in a three-man back line, with Bert Konterman the spare man and Scott Wilson resuming his Ibrox task of trying to cope with Larsson.
And like Malcolm, he too hit the turf after a nudge of a challenge in the box, this time from Sutton.
But this time it was to Rangers' advantage as it was at the Celtic end and Jorg Albertz had no trouble converting an unexpected penalty.
It had looked a soft award, just as it would have been unjust to have penalised Larsson for his unsettling of young Malcolm.
That had been Rangers' first real threat to Jonathan Gould's goal, although the replacement for the cup-tied Rob Douglas had made things difficult for himself for flapping at a couple of routine crosses.
The final minutes of the first half were notable for the sight of Claudio Reyna twice sending Paul Lambert crashing to the floor.
Reyna was booked for the first but seemed to have played both man and ball for the second and he was quick to accuse the Celtic man of making a meal of the challenge.
Lambert appeared to be genuinely damaged but that did not stop Tugay from making his point known, in fluent English or not, that he felt Lambert had tried to get Reyna sent off.
In any case, it was the Turk not Lambert who failed to reappear after the break as he had been replaced by Allan Johnston.
Celtic also made a change, with Bobby Petta replacing Jackie McNamara, and it was the sight of the winger being sent flying by Konterman that was to set the tone for most of the remaining minutes.
Konterman was booked and referee Young went on to make a series of questionable decisions as the tackles flew in, producing a card for some but curiously letting others ride.
Then came the decision that settled the destiny of the match and tilted the scales of domination in Glasgow further to the green and white side.
Larsson and Wilson were having an intriguing tussle that was also physical, as was proven when both needed treatment after a clash of heads.
But when Larsson went to ground in the box with Wilson at his back as ever it was a surprise to say the least that Young then pointed to the spot.
It looked like a gimme to cancel out the poor pedigree of the earlier penalty but when the Rangers protests finally died away Larsson wasted no time or energy slotting home goal number 37 of his amazing season.
Celtic could afford to take off the Swede now and he was put into cold storage for Sunday's Old Firm league clash at Parkhead, the match that could decide the destiny of the title there and then.
All that remained was for those reckless challenges to mature into red cards and the final few minutes saw Reyna and substitute Michael Mols plus Celtic replacement Lubo Moravcik shown the exit.
Reyna's demise mirrored his side's loss of discipline as he chased Petta and finally brought him down at the second attempt.
The American might even have played the ball but such was the recklessness of his intent that a second yellow of the night was inevitable.
Mols and Moravcik, two most unlikely brawlers, were ejected while Neil Lennon's thrusted palm into Reyna's face went unpunished.
It was a sensational end to a high octane contest but also demonstrated to an extent why Celtic are doing better than Rangers this season.
Teams:
Celtic: Gould, Boyd (Johnson 90), Mjallby, Vega, McNamara (Petta 45), Lambert, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson, Larsson (Moravcik 75), Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Tebily, Kharine.
Sent Off: Moravcik (90).
Booked: McNamara, Thompson.
Goals: Sutton 6, Larsson 17, 69 pen.
Rangers: Klos, Malcolm, Wilson, Konterman, Tugay (Johnston 45), Numan, Reyna, Ferguson, Albertz, Flo, McCann (Mols 59). Subs Not Used: Ricksen, Miller, Brown.
Sent Off: Reyna (90), Mols (90).
Booked: Reyna, Konterman, Johnston, Klos, Albertz, Ferguson.
Goals: Albertz 37 pen.
Ref: W Young (Scotland).