THERE was corporate espionage in the stands before kick-off. Either that or the guy who makes the banners was offering a two-for-one Old Firm special.

Okay, so it wasn’t quite up there with the time Dinamo Bucharest supporters pranked rivals Steaua by infiltrating Romania’s national stadium and putting coloured vests which spelled out “Only Dinamo Bucharest” on opposition fans’ seats, but insider knowledge clearly came into play as Celtic supporters modified Rangers’ own display to make a jibe about the Ibrox side’s liquidation in 2012. 

All this knockabout stuff, of course, had little or nothing to do with the events that unfolded on the field in the following 90 minutes. But the outflanking manoeuvre in the stands somehow set the tone for an afternoon where Celtic generally seemed to be a step ahead of whatever Rangers could throw at them. 

Not that – for all the Northern Irishman’s usual meticulous preparation – Brendan Rodgers was remotely inclined to rip up his game plan in recognition of what Rangers were trying to do.

His pre-game assessment of Rangers under Pedro Caixinha this season was spot on. They get the ball forward quicker than Mark Warburton’s side, he had said, but their game plan essentially revolves around old-fashioned things like pace out wide and crosses into the box. 

There were moments in the first half where this game plan had relative success, certainly far more so than the tactics the Portuguese came up with in his two previous Old Firm defeats, the 2-0 Scottish Cup loss at Hampden and the 5-1 league rout at Ibrox in April. Josh Windass made a lively start down the left and Alfredo Morelos – on the occasions where he beat the offside trap – had nuisance value even as a lone striker against Jozo Simunovic.

But moments are all they were. Because too often whatever momentum the home side had was frittered away with silly fouls and offsides. And too often those crosses – perhaps the only exception was a first-half James Tavernier delivery which almost located Morelos at the far post – into the box were utterly abject. 

The occasion was everything an Old Firm match usually is, for good and ill. Supporter interaction which crossed the line included a pyrotechnic thrown from the Celtic end which landed only a matter of metres away from Wes Foderingham, while a hail of beverages and other missiles were aimed at Leigh Griffiths and others, most notably when the striker celebrated his clinching second goal by picking up a green and whit scarf thrown from the crowd and whirling it around his head. 

At the centre of all this, from the moment he was slide tackled to the ground by Windass after two minutes, was the immaculately attired yet increasingly vexed figure of this 46-year-old former goalkeeper from Beja, Portugal. As his opposite number stood apparently dispassionately alongside him, Caixinha kicked every ball, appealed for every decision, threw his arms up in despair with every silly foul or missed opportunity. 

If this was a noticeably more demonstrative Rangers manager than previously glimpsed, then perhaps this is because he has more than ever personally invested in the outcome. With no fewer than seven debutants starting the match, and another two entering from the bench, this now is undeniably his team.

At the very least, his long-term job prospects depend on demonstrating progress from last season and an eight-point gap on Rangers’ city rivals before the end of September doesn’t augur well. 

Perhaps a mixture of frustration and thoughts of his own mortality 
motivated the extraordinary incident where Caixinha marched onto the pitch at half time and jabbed a forefinger in the face of Scott Brown, accusing him of elbowing Alfredo Morelos under a high ball and saying it wouldn’t have happened if he had been on the pitch. 

He may have been correct to identify similarities between this event and one involving Kenny Miller in April, but Caixinha crossed the line, both literally and metaphorically, in directly confronting the player about it.
Whatever happened beneath the bowels of this stadium didn’t help the home side. Rangers were a different side from the one that went in at half time.

While it took some sloppy defending to present Tom Rogic with the opener, the Parkhead side stuck to their belief that their composure on the ball and fitness and conditioning would get them through, the home side appeared leggy and deflated way before the end.

The wider question is whether the gap between these two Glasgow giants is reducing, growing or merely breaking even. There were positives here for Rangers, no doubt, not least a promising display by young Ross McCrorie at the back and the showing of two other young men in Windass and Morelos.

But on Old Firm day you are only as good as your weakest link, and that for Rangers was Carlos Pena. How the Ibrox side could have done with the pace, endeavour and ability of a Kenny McLean or even a Jamie Walker in there to give Brown and the excellent Stuart Armstrong something to think about. 

Work to do then for Caixinha before these two sides renew acquaintances at Celtic Park in December. Assuming he is still in charge by then.