| Match Pictures | Matches: 2018 – 2019 | 2018-19 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic win first Glasgow derby of the season.
- Beautiful Sunday song sung across the support as song is played over the tannoy at Celtic Park (after the match). First time this has happened, and song is now recognised as part of the Celtic repertoire.
- Celtic dominant, clear winners should have won by more. Not converting enough of our chances, the woodwork was the Sevco man of the match (if not the referee).
- Celtic now 4pts in front of Sevco, but Hearts on top with 12 from 12pts so far.
- First game with new allocations, following Sevco slashing Celtic away fans to 800 at Ibrox, so Celtic now only sell 800 away tickets to Huns.
- That awkward moment when Sevco fans signed a petition to reduce Celtic’s tickets at Ibrox because they can’t stand seeing 8000 Celtic fans celebrating at Ibrox….then get locked in to watch 59k celebrating instead as Celtic win.
- First match between Rodgers and Stevie Gerrard (Sevco manager) (formerly manager and player at Liverpool respectively)
- Stevie G whinging: “If we’d have lost to a moment of class or brilliance, I’d handle it but the referee has cost us.” He was wrong, and even arch Hun Kris Boyd on Sky Sports said it wasn’t a foul that led to the Celtic goal. Sky’s expert referee said no foul to Sevco, but really should have been foul to Celtic.
- Ntcham got POTM but Boyata ran him close. No coincidence since his return we’ve kept 3 clean sheets & look solid at the back. Boyata was immense. He’s what we’ve missed. Won EVERYTHING in the air. Collosus.
- New Sevco Manager is Stevie Gerrard who was a player for Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, with Stevie Gerrard losing them the league title with a silly slip at the end. Some say there are tensions between the two, others say otherwise. This will be interesting.
- Upto Half-time: Edouard 1 challenge = yellow card Brown 1 challenge = yellow card Lafferty 6/7 fouls = talking to Morelos 4/5 fouls 2 handball = talking to; bias to Sevco?
- Alan McGregor Sevco goalie should have been red carded for boot into Ajer.
UPDATE: Allan McGregor was neither charged or investigated for the boot on Ajer. An absolute disgrace. - Five people have been injured trying to get into Sunday’s Old Firm game at Celtic Park.
One was taken to hospital after falling from a wall and others were treated at the scene before going into the match. Celtic fans said some supporters were forced to climb over a high fence to escape a crush, which they claim was caused by the stadium entry points being changed. Police and Celtic FC said they would be reviewing their procedures. This could have been far more dangerous than even it was. - Celtic draw Leipzig, Salzburg and Rosenborg (AGAIN!) in the Europa League Group stages.
- Celtic’s Europa League group has 3 domestic champions in it. There aren’t 3 champions in any of the Champions League groups
- Transfer window ended: Dembele left for £~20m, Boyata remained despite all the dramas. No major Celtic signings. Benkovic arrived on loan for season.
- Ex Rangers players who were paid through an offshore trust have been told they have ‘weeks’ to approach the taxman, it has been reported. According to BBC Scotland, former players and staff face an even bigger bill if they don’t meet the deadline
- Ex-Celt Shaun Maloney has moved from Celtic’s coaching staff to the Belgian national squad’s coaching staff. All the best to him.
- Soul singing legend Aretha Franklin passed away. RIP
Review
Scott Brown:
We showed Rangers how good we are’ Scott Brown to BBC Radio Scotland “It was exceptional from our point of view We showed Rangers how good we are They put 11 men behind ball, tried to make it hard for us, we face that week-in, week-out eventually got goal Could’ve had a lot more
Phil Gordon (Journo):
This was a mission statement from the Celtic players in the wake of Dembele’s departure. He was never the centre of this team. Tom Rogic was the best player on pitch today, but Forrest so unselfish for Ntcham goal, MacGregor superb, Tierney and rest of defence immense.
Paddy Power on Twitter:
A disappointing result, but a huge day out for a small club like Rangers.
The game finished 1-0 Celtic and if you didn’t see it you might think, oh that was close. Forget it. That was 1-0 going on 4-0. A complete doing. We just passed down the right, across, down the left and were patient until the space opened up. We were miles ahead of them
(Moravcik67 of KDS)
Sure this has already been said many times over already, but that was absolute domination from start to finish. We didn’t create anywhere near the level of chances we should have – particularly 1st half – but absolutely pummelled them 1-0. They were saved from an absolute doing by a goalkeeper who shouldn’t have been on the park, and a referee who was nothing short of diabolical. One of the worst refereeing performances I’ve seen in years.
But enough about that. Every player played their part today. Ntcham and Boyata were immense. The goal was sublime. Watch the replay and look for Ntcham – he’s almost inside our own box when Rogic wins the ball. The effort he puts in to get up to join the attack was brilliant.
The much maligned Lustig had a great game. We did everything we needed to – controlled the midfield, harried them all over, supported the defence, and didn’t allow Lafferty/Morelos to bully us. You saw what it meant to the players at the final whistle. They loved it.
If that’s the best they’ve got then they should be worried. They were no better today than a Murty team – no intention of anything other than a 0-0. I’ve now seen him live in 4 games and I can safely say that Morelos is absolute muck. One of the worst strikers I’ve seen playing for them. All he does is run around barging into people.
Teams
Celtic
- 01 Gordon
- 23 Lustig
- 20 Boyata
- 35 Ajer
- 63 Tierney
- 21 Ntcham
- 08 Brown Booked at 10mins
- 49 Forrest Substituted for Sinclair at 90+2’minutes
- 18 Rogic Substituted for Christie at 77’minutes
- 42 McGregor
- 22 Edouard Booked at 37mins Substituted for Griffiths at 66’minutes
Substitutes
- 09 Griffiths
- 11 Sinclair
- 12 Gamboa
- 17 Christie
- 29 Bain
- 32 Benkovic
- 88 Kouassi
- Ntcham (62′ minutes)
Rangers
- 1McGregorBooked at 50mins
- 2Tavernier
- 19Katic
- 6GoldsonBooked at 85mins
- 31BarisicBooked at 29mins
- 8JackSubstituted forMiddletonat 81’minutes
- 10Ejaria
- 14KentSubstituted forCandeiasat 87’minutes
- 37Arfield
- 20MorelosBooked at 70mins
- 11Lafferty
Substitutes
- 3Worrall
- 13Foderingham
- 15Flanagan
- 16Halliday
- 17McCrorie
- 21Candeias
- 40Middleton
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
MOTM
- Voting Thread
- Result Thread
- Winner –
Stats
Celtic
Away Team
Rangers
Possession
Home57%
Away43%
Shots
Home16
Away6
Shots on Target
Home9
Away2
Corners
Home14
Away4
Fouls
Home14
Away16
Articles
Celtic 1 – 0 Rangers: Brendan Rodgers’ men continue Old Firm dominance
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/celtic-1-0-rangers-brendan-rodgers-men-continue-old-firm-dominance-1-4793715
Ronnie Esplin
Published: 13:52 Sunday 02 September 2018
Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham’s second-half strike handed Steven Gerrard his first defeat as Rangers boss in his first Old Firm encounter.
The former Liverpool and England captain, who played under Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers at Anfield, had yet to lose in 12 games since taking over at Ibrox before the trip to Parkhead.
Gerrard, however, watched Celtic dominate the Ladbrokes Premiership encounter with James Forrest and Mikael Lustig hitting the woodwork and Gers keeper Allan McGregor tipping an Ntcham drive on to the crossbar before the French midfielder struck in the 62nd minute with a breakaway goal.
It was a deserved 1-0 win for the champions and it stretched Rodgers’ unbeaten record against Rangers to 12 games since he joined the Glasgow club in 2016.
Rodgers had lost Moussa Dembele to Lyon on transfer deadline day for a reported £20million but fellow French striker Odsonne Edouard returned along with Forrest and Tom Rogic.
It was nearly all change for the visitors since their last visit to Celtic Park, with skipper James Tavernier the only survivor.
Connor Goldson, Ovie Ejaria, Ryan Kent, Nikola Katic, Borna Barisic and Scott Arfield were playing for the first time in the fixture.
With only around 800 Rangers fans inside the 60,000-capacity stadium, a vastly-reduced away ticket allocation due to a ***-for-tat ticket row, there was a different dynamic to the atmosphere.
Hoops voices boomed down from the stands as Celtic took early control of the ball and refused to let go.
Celtic skipper Scott Brown picked up an early booking from referee Willie Collum for a foul on Kyle Lafferty and there was some controversy in the 25th minute when Rangers goalkeeper McGregor, after punching clear a Callum McGregor free-kick, appeared to kick out at Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer who fell to the ground but play carried on.
McGregor then pushed an Ntcham free-kick past his near post for a corner which came to nothing.
Forrest smacked the bar in the 33rd minute with a deflected 30-yard drive and from the resultant corner Lustig’s header from a Dedryck Boyata flick-on also hit the bar with Rangers scrambling to clear their lines.
Collum was having a busy time, booking Edouard for foul on Ryan Jack before the French forward missed a great chance from Callum McGregor’s cross, heading straight at Allan McGregor who clawed the ball away for another corner which proved fruitless.
The home side started the second half as tenaciously as they had finished the first and in the 50th minute McGregor tipped a powerful long-range drive from Ntcham on to the bar before Celtic’s McGregor gave away a foul in his attempt to get to the rebound.
The corner count mounted for Rodgers’ men and the goal felt inevitable, although it came on a break in the 62nd minute driven by Rogic.
The Australian played in Edouard and his pass to Forrest was cut across for Ntcham, with the French playmaker knocking the ball into the net from 12 yards.
Griffiths replaced Edouard minutes later and his corner was met by Lustig who skimmed a header past the far post.
Rangers had to come out of their defensive shell and in a rare foray Alfredo Morelos’ angled drive was saved by Hoops goalkeeper Craig Gordon for a corner which was defended, before Lafferty headed a Tavernier cross past the far post.
Griffiths skimmed the outside of the post with a long-range effort and at the other end Tavernier flashed a shot wide, but there was no doubt the champions were well worth their win.
Five injured after ‘crush’ at Old Firm game
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-45390489?ns_campaign=bbc_sportsound&ns_linkname=scotland&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=socialImage caption Celtic fans climbed fences to get away from the crush
Five people have been injured trying to get into Sunday’s Old Firm game at Celtic Park.
One was taken to hospital after falling from a wall and others were treated at the scene before going into the match.
Celtic fans said some supporters were forced to climb over a high fence to escape a crush, which they claim was caused by the stadium entry points being changed.
Police and Celtic FC said they would be reviewing their procedures.
People were panicking and climbing over the fences as they couldn’t actually breathe properly. It was that bad
Celtic fan
One supporter, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC Scotland news website: “People couldn’t walk round the stadium anymore so there was a bottleneck under the north stand.
“Suddenly there was an absolute crush because there were about 1,000 people trying to get one way and about 1,000 trying to go the other way. The corridor is only 6-7 people wide.
“They kept letting people through from either side of the corridor and it became a crush, with people getting semi-trampled.
“I was behind a woman with a boy of about 10 who was getting rocked and people were panicking and climbing over the fences as they couldn’t actually breathe properly. It was that bad.”
Image copyright @Bazzakc
He added: “Myself and my friends were fine but there were women and kids there. It must’ve been really scary for them.”
The Celtic fan said it took him 30-40 minutes to move 300 yards but that the police and club eventually stopped people going in so the situation resolved itself.
“It was an absolute joke,” he said. “The people at fault are the police for shutting the access and Celtic for not thinking about how the people flow would go.”
‘Dynamic situation’
Ch Supt Brian McInulty, of Police Scotland, said: “Five people were treated by first aiders when fans were attempting to get into the stadium in the lead up to kick-off at Janefield Street.
“Four people were treated at the scene and then went into the ground, and the other was taken to hospital after a fall from the wall bordering Janefield Street.
“This was a dynamic situation, occurring 10 minutes before the match started.
“Officers and stewards reacted quickly upon realising there was an issue and put in place measures to relieve the congestion. This included putting in place cordons to prevent further entry at Janefield St and opening up London Road to allow fans to access the stadium from the south.”
He added: “We work closely with Celtic Football Club to ensure the safety of all fans attending matches. We plan and practice various scenarios to ensure that if an incident occurs it will be dealt with as quickly as possible, as happened in this case.
“We will review today’s incident and work with Celtic to ensure any learning is quickly put in place.”
The final score was Celtic 1-0 Rangers.
BBC
By Tom English
BBC Scotland
4 hours ago From the section Scottish Premiership
Olivier Ntcham (centre) gives Celtic the lead against Rangers
Olivier Ntcham (centre) gives Celtic the lead against Rangers
Steven Gerrard suffered his first defeat in 13 games as Rangers manager as Celtic dominated the first Old Firm game of the season.
Rangers defended manfully but were undone just after the hour when Olivier Ntcham finished a stunning counter-attack for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Celtic struck the woodwork four times as Rodgers extended his unbeaten Old Firm run to 12 games.
The result means Rangers have not won a league derby since March 2012.
And it leaves the Ibrox side seventh in the Scottish Premiership with just one win in four games, while Celtic move up to second – three points behind leaders Hearts.
Celtic should have scored more – Rodgers
Rangers ‘done’ by refereeing decision – Gerrard
Colossus McGregor keeps Rangers in it
This was a bombardment of the Rangers goal, a siege to rival any of the sieges Celtic laid down in this fixture last season when their dominance had its reward in buckets of goals.
Celtic eventually got their breakthrough after an hour but, Lord, how they threatened before that gorgeous counter-attack was finished off by Ntcham.
The visitors were fortunate early on when Allan McGregor, an utter colossus in the Rangers goal, escaped punishment when he flicked his boot into Kristoffer Ajer after the two fell to the turf in the six-yard box. That could have been a penalty. It could even have been a red card. It was neither.
Celtic drove on regardless. James Forrest had a long-range shot deflected on to McGregor’s crossbar. Within seconds, Mikael Lustig headed on to the bar. In the follow-up, Connor Goldson made a critical tackle on Callum McGregor.
It was relentless from Celtic. Kieran Tierney, terrific all day, swung in a cross for Odsonne Edouard, who should have scored. Instead, McGregor denied him.
Reaction to Celtic’s win & relive the match
That was a recurring theme. Early in the second half, the Rangers goalkeeper made a wondrous save from Ntcham, tipping his drive on to the crossbar. For a third time the woodwork was kind to Rangers.
The goal finally came when Tom Rogic, Edouard and Forrest counter-attacked and combined to cut open an incredibly dogged Rangers defence. Forrest’s cool pass across goal was turned in by Ntcham. Clinical.
Rangers called for a foul when Rogic robbed Ryan Jack of the ball. It was debatable, but their howls were lost in the bedlam that engulfed Celtic Park.
Lustig almost made it two with a glancing header soon after, but Rangers finally came out to play after that.
Craig Gordon saved from Alfredo Morelos, Kyle Lafferty headed past a post and James Tavernier shot wide. That Tavernier chance was a big opportunity to land an almighty sucker-punch, but he could not get his effort on target.
Graphic
Celtic raise game & Rangers show strides – analysis
We turned up at Celtic Park wondering if our questions were gong to be answered. Could Celtic raise their game to meet the challenge of their much-changed city rivals? Unquestionably, they did. This was 1-0 going on a whole lot more. These have been difficult weeks for Celtic, but the thunder returned against Rangers.
Save for 10 minutes late in the game, Rangers were out-done. Celtic were excellent. They threw back their shoulders and delivered a performance of real substance.
There was another question, of course. Could Rangers get their act together after the humiliations in this stadium last season? Again, they did, but only in a defensive sense. They have a magnificent goalkeeper in McGregor, two redoubtable centre-backs, and lots of honesty and a pile of luck.
The final scoreline flattered them, no doubt about it. They need to find a lot more in attack if they are to kick on as title challengers. There is no questioning their togetherness and their spirit – huge strides have been made – but their wit going forward is still a work in progress.
They now have five points from a possible 12 in the league. One win from four. Gerrard has already done a lot, but has much yet to do.
Full Time
Substitution
Substitution
Booking
Substitution
Substitution
Booking
Substitution
Goal!
Booking
Second Half
Half Time
Booking
Booking
Booking
Kick Off
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.