| Match Pictures | Matches: 2008 – 2009 | 2008-2009 Pictures |
Trivia
- Our first win at Ibrox in around three years!
- Skippy scored a cracker, and is now designated a "Hunskelper" taking in the quality of his goals against them.
- Move 7 pts back in front of the huns.
- Rangers last home game of the calendar year, and their first and only defeat at home in the Calendar year.
- McGeady out due to manager imposed two game ban due to manager/player spat, Naka out injured, JVoH returning from injury, Crosas on bench.
Review
Celtic went out and played a practical game, mainly relying on the counterattack. Rangers had the bulk of the possession, and in many ways we were under the cosh too often. An early goal by Rangers was not given for a foul on the goalie by Broadfoot, whilst Kenny Miller did his best to continually dive to try to get advantages. Rangers had a chance early in the second half to score against us, but wonder boy Boyd scuffed it up hitting it straight at the goalie (he was awful).
We had to wait until 58mins for a shot at goal with Samaras laying off to Skippy who turned and planted a scorcher into the back of the net, and give us a very very unexpected lead. Most didn't think we'd win (esp with the gameplan we had). Anyhow, game carried on as it was, with little real threat from the Huns. Sammy had a good chance to score a second with a header but didn't connect well enough to direct it, and we rode the rest of the game out to win.
7pts in front, and we are on the road to 4-in-a-row!!!!!
Teams
Rangers
McGregor, Whittaker (Novo 74), Broadfoot, Weir, Papac, Davis, Mendes, Ferguson, Adam (Lafferty 62), Miller, Boyd. Subs Not Used: Alexander, McCulloch, Dailly, Niguez, Fleck
Booked: Adam
Celtic
Boruc
Hinkel (Wilson 46), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor
Mizuno (O'Dea 62), Scott Brown, Hartley, Robson
McDonald (Vennegoor of Hesselink 90), Samaras
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Loovens, Crosas, Hutchinson
Booked: Naylor, Caldwell
Goals: McDonald 58
Att: 50,403
Ref: C Thomson
Articles
Rangers manager Walter Smith
"We played very well in the opening period, but when you don't take chances in an Old Firm match you always know something could be round the corner.
"When we lost the goal it meant Celtic could sit back and defend a bit deeper. They did that very well and restricted us to few opportunities. It's disappointing from our own point of view.
"There's no margin for error for us now. Give Celtic credit for their consistency over the season which has led to that. We're disappointed to lose a game we feel we shaded."
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan
"It's a game where you only need two or three bits of brilliance from somebody, and the rest of it is headers, tackles and closing down. Fortunately, we had a bit of brilliance today.
"There were a lot of good footballers missing from the game. So, it just shows that you can play these games without top passing players.
"Both sides didn't have enough in their lockers to score a lot of goals today.
"It was a terrific goal from Scott. And, when he was needed, Boruc made a great save."
Pictures
KStreet
Stats
RANGERS v CELTIC
(the possession level below from the BBC doesn't seem right. Setanta had it more skewed towards Rangers which being honest sounded more correct).
Possession
| 54% | 46% |
Shots on target
| 7 | 4 |
Shots off target
| 8 | 2 |
Corners
| 7 | 2 |
Fouls
| 18 | 17 |
Patrick Glenn in the observer
On a day when Celtic had the look of champions defending their title, victory that would open up a potentially decisive seven-point lead over their would-be challengers seemed not to be enough. There was a whiff of humiliation for Rangers, beaten with almost contemptuous ease by opponents whose personnel problems gave them a makeshift look, but who, in racing parlance, won "on the bridle".Scott McDonald's second-half goal may have been the divider, but it was obvious, from a long way out, that Walter Smith's team lacked the inventiveness, the incisiveness and even the will to deliver the victory for which their supporters ached.
That goal from McDonald came at a time when the match craved a stimulant to lift it above pedestrian. In fairness, the lack of excitement before that had not been entirely the fault of the players. On a surface frosty enough to suggest the undersoil heating had not been fully effective, the cautiousness that is natural to the fixture tended to be exaggerated.
For lengthy periods, especially during the first half, it was as though both sets of players were gingerly trying out their footwear, the consequence of which was a lack of fluency of movement and passing that would create authentic scoring opportunities. Rangers spent more of that time in Celtic's half of the field, but skirmishing in the vicinity of Artur Boruc in the visitors' goal was fleeting and largely unthreatening. The exception was the early chance that fell, a little fortunately, to Steven Davis.
From a long punt out of defence by the goalkeeper Allan McGregor, Kris Boyd headed the ball down to Kenny Miller, who then played it to Davis, coming in from the right. When his attempted low cross was blocked, the ball broke back to the midfielder from the ensuing scramble and, from 10 yards out and slightly to the right, Davis sent his drive several yards wide of the far post.
Gordon Strachan's selection of the Japan midfielder Koki Mizuno, for his second start, was, in effect, an admission of his lack of resources. Mizuno's countryman, Shunsuke Nakamura, was prevented by injury from taking even a place on the bench, as was Shaun Maloney, while Aiden McGeady's dressing-room altercation with the manager two weeks before had left him with a club suspension.
Mizuno had impressed on his debut at Falkirk, six days earlier, but he had difficulty in imposing himself on a fixture that is notoriously difficult for newcomers. Clearly accustomed to the more sedate pace of the game in his own country, he was often dispossessed as he tried to take some of the heat out of the game by dwelling on the ball.
McDonald's goal gave Strachan the excuse to replace Mizuno with the defender, Darren O'Dea. In Scott Brown, Paul Hartley and Barry Robson, however, the Celtic manager had enough experience to compete effectively in midfield for much of the match.
Typically, Pedro Mendes, Rangers' orchestrator, was the one trying to play subtle passes, but the condition of the pitch and the competitiveness in his area of expertise made it difficult for the Portuguese to produce his most artistic work. In the circumstances it was hardly surprising Celtic's goal should arrive apparently out of thin air. Rangers seemed to have plenty of cover when Georgios Samaras took possession of the ball, 40 yards out on the right, but, when he suddenly flicked the ball forward to McDonald, the Australian was policed only by Kirk Broadfoot. The Australian striker, one of the few players to have demonstrated flair and skill from the start, kneed the ball into the air, turned past the tall defender and, from 15 yards out to the right, hit a powerful volley high to the right of McGregor. It was, by a distance, the sweetest piece of football of the match.
What would depress Rangers supporters – and worry Smith – even more than the defeat, was the comfort in which Celtic played out the remaining time after scoring the winner. Indeed, with a little more care about their finishing, Samaras would have doubled the margin of victory.
From an impeccably measured free-kick on the left by Hartley, the towering Greece striker was allowed to run behind the defence and meet the ball four yards out from goal. But, stooping to make the header, he sent the ball straight at McGregor.
Even that miss, however, did not suggest Celtic would pay for their profligacy. Rangers were in such disarray during the last 30 minutes of the game that the champions were able to coast towards the finishing line. By the time they got there, their opponents had become victims of a deep despair.