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Trivia
- O'Neill laments losing late goal.
Review
Rangers started strongly and Nacho Novo's powerful strike was blocked by the legs of David Marshall after an impressive run from the striker.
Celtic were struggling to get out of their own half. However, Celtic won a free kick in the 21st minute and Hartson met Thompson's delivery just six yards out, but his downward header hit the turf and bounced over the crossbar.
A disjointed ten minutes of play was followed by Agathe's impressive surge into the Rangers penalty area but the full-back's shot was blocked by the out-stretched leg of Jean-Alain Boumsong.
The interval came with no sign of the whirlwind pace abating.
The second period began with Celtic asserting themselves more in midfield but neither side able to string a telling series of passes together. Celtic came close to a goal after 64 minutes when Varga beat Stefan Klos to a headed knockdown from Hartson but the defender's toe-poked effort struck the crossbar.
But the opening goal came 60 seconds later when Hartson rose highest at the back post to head home a Thompson corner.
Rangers got on level terms when Novo's stray pass was played into the path of Namouchi by the heel of substitute Arveladze. The youngster's low shot from 20 yards was well saved by Marshall but Prso was on hand to knock the loose ball into an empty net.
Rangers went in front in the 100th minute when Fernando Ricksen sprang a counter-attack from deep in his own half and found Arveladze, who drilled in a low shot from 15 yards.
Henri Camara escaped the Rangers defence early in the second period of extra time but shot wide of the target.
Rangers held on for their first win over Celtic since the final of this competition in March 2003.
Teams
Rangers:-
Klos, Khizanishvili, Andrews, Boumsong, Vignal, Namouchi, Ricksen, Alex Rae (Hughes 111), Lovenkrands (Arveladze 79), Novo, Thompson (Prso 27).
Subs Not Used:- Graeme Smith, Hutton.
Goals:- Prso 85, Arveladze 100.
Booked:- Prso, Vignal.
Celtic:-
Marshall, McNamara, Balde, Varga, Valgaeren, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov (Beattie 90, McGeady 105), Thompson, Juninho Paulista (Camara 67), Hartson.
Subs Not Used:- Hedman, Pearson.
Goal:- Hartson 66.
Booked:- Varga, Balde, Hartson.
Att:- 47,298
Ref:- S Dougal
Articles
- Match Report (BBC)
- Manager Interview (BBC) – O'Neill laments losing late goal.
Pictures
Rangers 2-1 Celtic
CIS INSURANCE CUP
Dado Prso celebrates at Ibrox
Rangers reaction
Celtic reaction
Shota Arveladze's extra time goal took Rangers into the CIS Insurance Cup semi-finals and ended a seven-game Old Firm winning streak for Celtic.
Celtic's Stanislav Varga hit the crossbar just before John Hartson got on the end of Alan Thompson's 65th minute corner to head the opening goal.
Dado Prso took the game into extra time with an 84th minute tap-in after David Marshall had saved from Hamed Namouchi.
And Arveladze shot home the winner in a pulsating extra period.
Rangers started strongly and Nacho Novo's powerful strike was blocked by the legs of David Marshall after an impressive run from the striker.
Peter Lovenkrands then sent a dangerous angled shot wide of Marshall's goal and the same player was denied a shooting chance minutes later by a great Didier Agathe tackle.
Celtic were struggling to get out of their own half and Rangers defender Zura Khizanishvili was next to try his luck when he shot into the side-netting after 18 minutes.
However, the visitors won a free kick in the 21st minute and Hartson met Thompson's delivery just six yards out, but his downward header hit the turf and bounced over the crossbar.
A disjointed ten minutes of play was followed by Agathe's impressive surge into the Rangers penalty area but the full-back's shot was blocked by the out-stretched leg of Jean-Alain Boumsong.
The interval came with no sign of the whirlwind pace abating and Rangers exerting the bulk of attacking pressure.
The second period began with Celtic asserting themselves more in midfield but neither side able to string a telling series of passes together.
Celtic came close to a goal after 64 minutes when Varga beat Stefan Klos to a headed knockdown from Hartson but the defender's toe-poked effort struck the crossbar.
But the opening goal came 60 seconds later when Hartson rose highest at the back post to head home a Thompson corner.
Joos Valgaeren challenges Nacho Novo
Both sides gave everything in an untidy game
Rangers almost replied immediately when Lovenkrands broke down the left and centred for Namouchi, who could only direct the ball wide of the target from inside the six yard box.
Rangers got on level terms when Novo's stray pass was played into the path of Namouchi by the heel of substitute Arveladze.
The youngster's low shot from 20 yards was well saved by Marshall but Prso was on hand to knock the loose ball into an empty net.
The home side were swarming all over the Celtic penalty area and Bobo Balde blocked a Novo shot before Agathe hacked away Boumsong's header from the goal-line.
In the third minute of extra time Celtic substitute Craig Beattie squeezed between two defenders to prod a shot past Klos but Boumsong recovered to clear the ball just a yard from the goal-line.
Rangers went in front in the 100th minute when Fernando Ricksen sprang a counter-attack from deep in his own half and found Arveladze, who drilled in a low shot from 15 yards.
Henri Camara escaped the Rangers defence early in the second period of extra time but shot wide of the target.
And Rangers held on for their first win over Celtic since the final of this competition in March 2003.
Rangers: Klos, Khizanishvili, Andrews, Boumsong, Vignal, Namouchi, Ricksen, Alex Rae (Hughes 111), Lovenkrands (Arveladze 79), Novo, Thompson (Prso 27). Subs Not Used: Graeme Smith, Hutton.
Booked: Prso, Vignal. Goals: Prso 85, Arveladze 100.
Celtic: Marshall, McNamara, Balde, Varga, Valgaeren, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov (Beattie 90), Thompson, Juninho Paulista (Camara 67), Hartson, Beattie (McGeady 105). Subs Not Used: Hedman, Pearson.
Booked: Varga, Balde, Hartson. Goals: Hartson 66.
Att: 47,298
Ref: S Dougal
Arveladze ends Old Firm agony for Rangers
Graham Clark at Ibrox
The Guardian, Thursday 11 November 2004 01.01 GMT
Article history
Shota Arveladze rejoices in the nickname of Mr Bean because of his facial likeness to Rowan Atkinson, and he certainly left Rangers fans smiling all the way home after an extra-time CIS Insurance Cup quarter- final winner over Celtic.
The victory finally ended an unhappy sequence of seven consecutive Old Firm defeats for the Ibrox team and earned them local bragging rights even if they may be brief, for the next derby is only 10 days away in the Premierleague.
Their supporters savoured this success, though, after Arveladze's 100th-minute winner completed a spirited comeback that started with Dado Prso's late equaliser to John Hartson's opener.
The Georgian, a 78th- minute substitute for Peter Lovenkrands, also had a hand in the build-up to the Prso goal so it was little wonder his delighted manager Alex McLeish insisted: "I'll take some credit for the change.
"But this has been a win over Celtic that has been a long time coming. I have felt the agony and so have the fans so we're very pleased.
"We showed great spirit after unjustly going behind in my opinion and overall I feel we definitely edged it.
"Now we must look to clawing back Celtic's lead in the Premierleague when they come back here, although we have a vital match at Hibs before then."
The Celtic manager Martin O'Neill insisted that this defeat would have no bearing on that league fixture.
"I am sure it will make no appreciable difference," he maintained. "It will be a similar game next time.
"As for this one, all good things come to an end. I felt when we scored we were reasonably comfortable without being completely in command but we couldn't see it through and we lost a game I felt at 1-0 we were going to win. But it's not the end of the world."
It is, instead, the end of that remarkable sequence of results in this fixture and Arveladze believes it may prove to be a pivotal point in the season.
"It was our day and now we want a good run," he declared. "It was always important for us to stop that Celtic run and now we've done it and I can honestly say I never thought we looked like losing at any stage."
There was just a hint of Mr Bean about that latter remark because after a dominant early spell Rangers struggled to maintain that supremacy and fell behind to a trademark Celtic goal after 66 minutes as Hartson nodded home an Alan Thompson corner.
There was a feeling among both sets of fans of "here we go again" at that point and it took the home team until six minutes from the end to equalise when a Hamed Namouchi shot was beaten out by David Marshall only as far as Prso, who had the simplest of tasks to score.
So it went into extra-time but in the end it was Arveladze who mattered most, as he finished in style a Rangers breakaway move that began with Fernando Ricksen in his own penalty area, swept forward as he played a one-two with Namouchi and ended as Novo distracted Celtic's defence with a clever run to leave the scorer with a crucial glimpse of goal.