2017-09-23: TheRangers 0-2 Celtic, SP

Match Pictures | Matches: 2017 – 2018 | 2017-18 Pictures

Trivia

• Sevco captain Lee Wallace (‘the Grass’) will miss game due to a groin injury.
• Celtic clear winners, by far the better team although not the best performance.
• Highlight for Huns was when their manager was accidentally clearly slide tackled by own player after first few mins of the match.
• Alleged that Sevco have spent around 9m this past summer (various doubt it highly), which would be more than Celtic.
• Huns claim for a penalty, Celtic maybe could have for a penalty. Hun manager tries to claim Brown elbowed a Sevco player (he didnt) and tried to remonstrate with Brown at half-time, Pedro well lost that one.
• Sevco midfielder Josh Windass cleared to play v Celtic despite after making an uncalled for obscene gesture to Partick Thistle fans during a 2-2 draw on Friday past. Dodgey SFA decision.
• Champions League Next Week. Anderlecht have sacked their manager a week before their Champions League clash with Celtic.
• Former Labour party spin doctor Alastair Campbell has revealed that he once suggested Rangers and Celtic take part in a friendly wearing the other team’s shirts – in a bid to boost the Northern Ireland peace process. “That idea lasted about five seconds.”
• Last week former Labour prime minister Blair admitted he had been ‘obsessed’ with the creation of a British league, in a bid to keep the UK together following devolution.
• Sevco reportedly paid out over £8million in transfer fees to bolster his squad with Celtic shelling out £5.5m to add to his.
• Sevco defender Bruno Alves has been ruled out of the clash after he failed to overcome a calf injury. He was their ‘big name’ signing from last summer. Ross McCrorie replaced the Portugal international on Tuesday night. Pedro Caixinha hailed the teenager previous week, asserting that he would be ‘one of the best centre halves in history’ for both Rangers and Scotland.
• Jamie McCart has joined St Mirren in an emergency loan
• Celtic declare results to end Jun 2017; sales revenue of £90.6m (2016: £52.0m) and a profit before taxation of £6.9m (2016: £0.5m) Group revenue increased by 74.2% to £90.6m. Operating expenses increased by 33.3% to £76.3m; Gain on sale of player registrations of £2.3m (2016: £12.6m); Profit before taxation of £6.9m (2016: £0.5m); Year-end cash net of bank borrowings of £17.9m (2016: £3.6m); Investment in football personnel of £13.8m (2016: £8.8m)
• Celtic have been nominated for a FIFA award honouring the best fans in football. They have been shortlisted alongside Borussia Dortmund and FC Copenhagen for the 2017 prize. Also: FIFA Puskas Award seeks to find the “most beautiful” goal each and every season and Dembele has been nominated for his goal against St Johnstone in Celtic’s 5-2 away victory. Results in a ceremony on 23 Oct.

Review

Chris Sutton on Twitter: “Ibrox does not seem intimidating anymore for Celtic… Truth is 2-0 in first gear Scott Brown strolled it”
Paddy Power on Twitter: “BREAKING NEWS: A Glasgow resident has been asked if he can hear the Rangers sing. “I can’t hear a f*cking thing,” he replied. More to follow”

Sevco banner “3 letters emblazoned on our breast RFC”.
Celtic banner “3 letters emblazoned on your grave RIP” Brilliant undercover work!

(Steviefrombelfast of KDS)
I thought the score would-be a bit tighter today and so was the game – until we scored the second anyway. We were well short of our best in the first half although we should have went in a few ahead at half time. I thought rogic, Roberts and Sinclair were all a bit missing in the first half. Once we moved into second gear there was only going to be one winner. As others have said we clearly were thinking about Wednesday night in the last 25 minutes. As regards the Huns they were very poor – in reality we made them look better than they were in the first half.

As regards sky’s penalty at the time I thought it was more of a dive and still do. What the pundits arent saying is that the fat Hun had clearly lost the ball and went down about ten minutes later with no contact. The ref was right on top of it and had no doubts at all that it wasn’t a penalty. that sleegit bastard lovenkrands must be smoking whatever pedro is – two absolute loon balls. And I have to say back when others were taking his side against Ronny i posted that commons would go and be an absolute souptaker in the media after he left us. He will have got himself a contract after that performance today.

(Caltonbhoy of KDS)
Dawdle – Never had to get out of 3rd gear.

Second half was a training exercise for Wednesday – Once we were ahead we kept ourselves in check as we and they knew they had nothing to offer.

Brown bossed it and absolutely ripped it out of them at the same time – They are shiiiiit scared of him – His sheer disdain and contempt for their fud of Manager as he let Pedro prattle on was a thing of beauty.

Brendan gets it right again – Rogic then McGregor – Roberts then Forrest – Griffiths then Dembele or a complete reversal of this in other games is exactly how to play games out – With Edouard now in situ we have some strength in depth in the squad as far as Scottish football goes – Nobody will live with Celtic over the course of a season domestically – CB position is still a problem re Europe.

Thompson by his standards did okay albeit a few Zombies should have been carded earlier and if so at least one might have taken an early walk.

Pedro – Words fail me – I used to think he was working his ticket as he knows he won’t last but now I have come to the conclusion he is a complete zoomer!!! Fwiw my resident pet zombie clown of a neighbour has texted me that on the one hand he thinks that was a vast improvement from them and on the other hand he informs me that they have a poll running on Pedro going or staying and the result will be presented to the Zombies Board – That will work!!!

Walker – Beyond parody and an embarrassment – The things people do and say to keep a coin coming in.

Lovenkrands – A fud trying to ensure he keeps his Zombie Under 20’s coaching gig and Zombie tv number going – Feck him

Commons – In danger of going down the same route a few others.

Zombies are what they are an irrelevance and mid table keech at best – Pedro is unlikely to see the season out even if Jabba keeps giving him the soundbites to try and keep the vermin appeased for a while longer – Betfred Cup will keep the hordes from the door for another few weeks – In the league before they play us amongst others they have to play the Sheep twice – Perthshire Farmers twice – Diet huns away – Hibs away and the Family Club in the cup and league

Happy days – Well done yet again Brendan Rodgers and well done Celtic.

(ronan Cfc of KDS)
Pena – Waster
Cardoso – Lightweight, can’t tackle
Dorrans – expensive Andy Haliday. Legs gone.
Morelos – decent finisher, hopeless movement, diving carrot.
Candeias – A winger that can’t run.
Jack – Gives them a bit of protection but is totally average
Alves – Done. Boy in for him today coped better than he would have
Nemane – Who?
Dalcio – Where?

They’ve thrown everything at it in the summer and came up with worse than last year. eff knows what kind of garbage they’ll find when they go back to raking the bins

(PARODY)
HOW THEY RATED

By PETER LOVENKRANDS

Foderingham – How could he save those Celtic goals, they were both offside and he was fouled despite being the best goalie in the world. 9

Tavernier – Tav the must have, as in must have covered 100 miles with his running. Super-fit. 10

Cardoso – Can’t be blamed for nothing, great player and didn’t put any of his feet wrongly. Will learn from this and conquer the world. 9

McCrorie – Baresi and Maldini rolled into a loyal blue dervish. Didn’t deserve to be on a losing side. Penalty! 10

Hodson – Brave like a scarecrow. Pushed the Celtic players all over the pitch. Fitness not in question and should have had 3 penalties. 10

Jack – None of the Celtic players played as well as Jacky. Man of the match performance for me. Penalty! 9

Pena – Strolled his midfield circumference of 2 feet like an expert. Rangers had as many chance as Celtic right? 10

Dorrans – Braveheart warrior should have had a hat-trick was it not for the fact he didn’t have a shot on target. Four penalties ruled out too. 10

Candeias – Such a great fitness performance from this energetic star. Scott Brown take note, plastic hard man. Penalty ref, surely! 10

Morelos – Penalty eff sake man ref! How can ye no see thaaaat? 10

Windass – Impressive showing from Windy. How he wasn’t awarded man of the match is beyond my brain. Piled into space, if he had taken the ball who knows what might have transpired. 11

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Rangers 0 – 2 Celtic: Champions 57 unbeaten with win over rivals
Patrick Roberts attempts to get past Graham Dorrans of Rangers and Lee Hodson. Picture: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
Moira Gordon
Published: 13:54 Saturday 23 September 2017
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/rangers-0-2-celtic-champions-57-unbeaten-with-win-over-rivals-1-4567977
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic once again underlined their Old Firm superiority as they claimed a 2-0 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Rangers at Ibrox.
• READ MORE: Celtic fans unveil RIP banner aimed at Rangers
There was an angry exchange between Leigh Griffiths and his manager midway through the second half. The striker had got himself involved in some niggle with Josh Windass and Brendan Rodgers wanted him to press the reset button and focus on the game.
By that stage Celtic had made the breakthrough but, as they sought out a second, decisive goal, the Parkhead manager was calling for calm heads and cool hearts, something that is not easy in the heat of a Glasgow derby. It is even more difficult for a player like Griffiths, who continues to taunt and tantalise in equal measure.
Having initially bitten back, the Scotland international eventually raised his hands in submission. Rangers eventually did likewise.
Few had backed them to do any better in the fixture than they did last season. Five wins for Celtic and one draw were ample evidence of the champions’ superiority and contributed to an unbeaten domestic run that has now stretched to 57 games.
It had also, according to Rodgers, left a few scars. It there were old wounds, Tom Rogic sliced them open with a 50th-minute goal to silence the home crowd and leave Celtic partying. Then Griffiths got himself back in his manager’s good books with a second to make sure of the points. As his angled drive hit the back of the net, he wheeled away, picking up a Celtic scarf to whirl over his head as he ran past the home fans where he was joined by ecstatic team-mates.
It was 500 days exactly since the treble winners last lost a domestic tussle and the celebration demonstrated their joy that they would not be suffering their next defeat at the hand of their city rivals.
Celtic had started at full pelt, swarming all over their hosts in an attempt to grab an early opener.
Rogic was first to strike, but his first-minute effort was tipped over the bar by Wes Foderingham. Sensing the need to get a foothold, as Patrick Roberts ran riot and Celtic threatened to camp out in the Rangers half, Ryan Jack made a robust tackle that felled the on-loan Manchester City winger and could have earned him a booking. Later in the game it probably would have been a caution but referee Craig Thomson was reticent to flash cards too early in a game that always has a combustible quality. There was little respite for Rangers in that opening period. Missing key defenders, with Bruno Alves, captain Lee Wallace and Danny Wilson all injured, the makeshift rearguard was placed under severe pressure but with an impressive display from 19-year-old Ross McCrorie, it stood firm.
At the other end, Rangers were shooting themselves in the foot as Alfredo Morelos was foolishly and consistently caught offside. Then, when the striker was through in the 16th minute, he was denied by Jozo Simunovic. There were appeals for a penalty but Thomson kept matters moving.
Roberts was dancing past players at the other end but still the end product was lacking from Celtic. Griffiths came close in the 23rd minute but, after bringing a long ball down on his chest, his strike on the turn was saved by Foderingham.
With things getting meatier in the midfield, Graham Dorrans took joy in turning both Scott Brown and Roberts but his 25-yard shot was wayward.
The in-rushing Morelos was inches from stealing a lead in the 31st minute but couldn’t quite get to James Tavernier’s long ball to the back post.
The frustration for the guests was that it took until the 50th minute for them to finally break through. It came from a scrappy corner which Rangers couldn’t clear and it was Rogic who reacted to finally send the ball high into Foderingham’s net.
But the game was far from done. A Celtic fan was huckled away after a flare was thrown on to the pitch and narrowly missed the Rangers keeper, while Morelos forced a fantastic, reaction save from Craig Gordon at point-blank range in the 55th minute. The striker then flattened him in a later challenge.
But the key moment came in the 65th minute when Griffiths scored the second. It offered Rangers no way back.

Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha hits out at Scott Brown for ‘elbow’
Celtic’s Scott Brown exchanges words with Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha. Picture: SNS/Rob Casey
Andy Newport
Published: 14:42 Saturday 23 September 2017
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/rangers-boss-pedro-caixinha-hits-out-at-scott-brown-for-elbow-1-4568003
Furious Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha hit out at Scott Brown after accusing the Celtic skipper of aiming an elbow at Alfredo Morelos.
• READ MORE: Celtic fans unveil RIP banner aimed at Rangers
The Ibrox manager saw his side lose out again to their Old Firm rivals at Ibrox as Tom Rogic and Leigh Griffiths handed the Hoops a 2-0 win.
But Caixinha was furious Brown was allowed to remain on the pitch after his clash with Gers’ Colombian hitman just seconds before the interval.
He even had a nose-to-nose confontation with the Parkhead captain as the teams made their way down the tunnel and was still fuming over the incident after the full-time whistle.
“I was angry at half-time, did you see it?” asked Caixinha. “It’s the second time it happened, it was the same in April.
“I saw an elbow from Brown and I told the fourth official – but the referee let it go.
“Scott Brown was coming off and I told him, ‘You do that, but if I was on the pitch you wouldn’t’.
“I wouldn’t have allowed him to put his elbow in my face. If someone does nothing, I have to defend my club, my players and the truth of the game.
“It’s the referee’s decision. If he doesn’t think it’s an action to get booked or sent off, it’s his decision. I need to respect it.
“If I was a player and I had to face Brown or players like him, it would be a different thing. It was a shame that I couldn’t play because I know the mentality I have.”
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers admitted he did not see the incident but praised referee Craig Thompson for his handling of the powder-keg clash.
“I thought it was a competitive game,” said the Northern Irishman. “It was aggressive and you want it aggressive.
“But I think we need to give a mention to the referee as well because he was excellent.”
• READ MORE: Watch Leigh Griffiths pick his nose and wipe it on Rangers flag
Rodgers had every reason to be happy with his side’s work as they marked 500 days since their last domestic defeat.
They were pushed all the way during the opening half but when Tom Rogic swept the visitors ahead five minutes into the second period, their victory was set.
Griffiths then managed to slip away from Gers’ teenage debutant Ross McCroie for the first time all afternoon to slot home the second on 66 minutes as the Hoops once again underlined their dominance over their Old Firm rivals.
“I thought defensively we were outstanding in terms of our pressing and denying them the opportunity to play,” said Rodgers.
“In games here you have to defend well and have good organisation.
“In the second half, our conditioning and quality of our players came through. It was a very, very good performance. There was a great atmosphere here today and our boys coped with it well.”
Caixinha admitted Gers’ second-half errors and a stunning reflex save by Craig Gordon from Morelos’ point-blank range header in the moments after Rogic’s opener cost his side.
“The team who made the least mistakes won today,” said the Portuguese coach. “They were better than us as the game went on, definitely.
“We tried to take the game in the direction we wanted. In the first half, it was a good football match.
“But two moments were crucial. The first was how we lost the opening goal and the second was not equalising when Morelos had the chance.”
Celtic now hold an eight-point lead over their old foes but Caixinha has thrown down the gauntlet to his men.
He said: “We need to focus on the next match because now we’re going to see what we’re made of. Now we’ll see if we react the way we need to or just look around and don’t take decisions.”

BBC
Second-half goals from Tom Rogic and Leigh Griffiths eased Celtic to victory over Rangers at Ibrox.

The win extended Celtic’s lead in the Premiership over their Old Firm rivals to eight points and their run of unbeaten domestic games to 57.

Rangers survived an early flurry but could not prevent Rogic opening the scoring just after the break when he pounced on a loose ball to drive home.

Griffiths added the second when he converted Patrick Roberts’ superb pass.

Caixinha accuses Brown of landing elbow
Rodgers praises ‘exceptional’ Griffiths

There were the usual moments of tension, with Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha particularly irked with Celtic captain Scott Brown as the teams left the field at half-time.

The visitors, though, were unfazed with the lively atmosphere, and after the break were more accurate and decisive in the final third.
Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic
Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic scored the opening goal against Rangers with a well-taken strike from inside the area

As a result of their depleted resources, Rangers knew they needed to find a sense of resilience to make the game as competitive as the home fans expect.

Celtic’s domestic record under Brendan Rodgers illustrates the threat the champions pose, but the line-ups were also a stark demonstration of the difference between the sides.

Celtic arrived with their first-choice defensive line-up available, whereas Rangers were missing two of their starting defenders in the injured Lee Wallace and Bruno Alves, as well as back-ups Declan John and Danny Wilson.

Those absences meant Ross McCrorie, a 19-year-old centre-back, stepped in to make his first start for the club in the most daunting scenario.

Celtic, too, had four potential match winners on the bench – Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Moussa Dembele and Jonny Hayes – while in contrast Rangers had Dalcio, who had not played a domestic game, Aaron Nemane, yet to play for the club at all, 18-year-old defender Aiden Wilson and veteran forward Kenny Miller.

So it was no surprise when Celtic were immediately vibrant, the game less than a minute old when Rogic, in typically ambling but effective style, rifled a shot from 20 yards that Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham had to tip over.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha and Celtic captain Scott Brown
Caixinha and Celtic skipper Brown confronted each other at half-time

The visitors dominated possession in the opening quarter, and worked a handful of promising openings without finding the shrewd final ball that would unlock Rangers’ defence.

Griffiths sent a free-kick wide and saw another effort saved while, before half-time, Roberts veered past Lee Hodson and into the penalty area, but shot straight at the advancing Foderingham when Rogic was well-placed in the centre.

McCrorie grew into the game after surviving the ball inadvertently brushing his hand as he challenged Griffiths.

One sliding tackle on Celtic’s lone striker that saw him cleanly win the ball drew cheers from a home crowd witnessing a largely stuffy if unimaginative performance from their side.

Alfredo Morelos might have earned a penalty when Jozo Simunovic slid in but failed to make contact with the ball and forced the striker to hurdle over and collide with him.

The Colombian striker was otherwise regularly caught offside, but nevertheless always carries a threat and almost made contact at the back post with a James Tavernier cross.
Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos and Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic
Morelos went down inside the area after colliding with Jozo Simunovic

The goal-less half would have heartened the home side but they had to renew their poise after the break, McCrorie doing well to block Griffiths inside the area after the restart.

But when Rangers did defend sloppily, Celtic made them pay.

The ball travelled past several defenders into the box and Rogic thumped it high into the net with a powerful finish from the Australian.

For the second goal, Fabio Cardoso failed to cover Griffiths’ run, but in his defence he was beaten by a clever, well-weighted pass from Roberts, whose set-up play was rewarded with an accurate finish from the Scotland striker.

In between the two goals, Morelos won a header at close range, but Gordon blocked it with his chest, and soon after Josh Windass drove just wide.

It was a comfortable win for Celtic, and while not as painful for Rangers as the 5-1 at Ibrox last season, the visitors were well worth their victory.

Neil Cameron: Celtic are on another planet from Rangers and Pedro Caixinha can do nothing about it

PEDRO Caixinha’s suit must have been in a hell of a state by the end of what looked to be the most energetic workout in the history of fitness.

Even the finest silks stitched together on Saville Row could not withstand the stones of sweat which poured from the Rangers manager as he covered every inch of his technical area during what eventually was a difficult afternoon for the man.

The Portuguese kicked every ball, played every pass, appealed every decision made by referee Craig Thomson, got in a vocal fight with Mikael Lustig and Scott Brown and was downed in the first minute by his own player, Josh Windass.

He had an eventuful day.

Caixinha is many things, foolish he is not. He knew his team, and himself, could not afford a repeat of the two inspid previous performances against Celtic in which he was on the touchline.

A win would have been lovely, of course, but if his Rangers team were to go down, and they did 2-0, then at least the supporters had to see some fight.

And that they did. To an extent.
Rangers got through a slow start when it was all Celtic, dragged themselves into the game, played some decent stuff at times but there was just one problem.

Celtic are miles better than them. Not one Rangers player would make even Brendan Rodgers’s substitute’s bench. That will be hard to accept for all bluenoses, It is, however, nonetheless true.

And that is not good enough for Rangers.

Let’s put it this way, Caixinha’s team weren’t poor, not at all, but they would have needed Celtic to go a man down early one to have had a proper chance of avoiding defeat.

That can’t be put entirely the head of the current manager, although it is now his team.

An accusation which can be thrown his way is that he did not start with Kenny Miller and instead trusted Carlos Pena who was worse than a man down.

So where does this leave Caixinha? They won’t sack him. Talk to anyone in and around the corridors of power inside Ibrox and they all whisper the same thing.

“We’ve got to stand by him.” But how long can this stand last?

Unless things change, and for my money they won’t. Rangers will do well to finish third having spent, for this club, a an awful lot of money in the summer.

Rangers haven’t yet played Aberdeen or St Johnstone. They have to still to visit Easter Road, Tynecastle and Celtic Park for that matter. Think over that.

There were seven derby debutants in the Rangers side.

Ross McCrorie, the young defender had nothing to feel ashamed about, Fabio Cardoso, Daniel Candeias, Graham Dorrans, Ryan Jack, Pena and Alfredo Morelos who could do with reacquainting himself with the offside rule.

Once Celtic scored, through Tom Rogic a few minutes after the break, there was only going to be one outcome. Leigh Griffiths finished a superb Celtic move not long after. The only surprise was a third opportunity wasn’t taken.

All the best players wore green and white hoops. Scott Brown, Griffiths, Rogic and Stuart Armstrong. To nobody’s real surprise.

The job of Rangers as a club was to close the gap on Celtic, win an Old Firm game, have a shout in one of the cups, which they do, and give their supporters some much-needed hope.

So far, so failure goes.

The board could blink. They may remove Caixinha, who always seemed to be an unnecessary risk, and go for, say, Derek McInnes. But the fact of the matter is that Celtic are on a different planet and show no signs of being caught.