Rangers 2 (Tavernier 2, Arfield 63)
Celtic 0
RANGERS completed their first Ibrox Old Firm clean sweep since 2011-12, courtesy of goals in either half from James Tavernier and Scott Arfield. There was no guard of honour from the hosts at the start – Scott Brown leading Celtic onto the field as defiantly as ever – and little respect shown to the champions on it as Steven Gerrard gained a measure of revenge upon Neil Lennon for a 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park in March. While there was nothing significant resting on the outcome, try telling their supporters that this was a meaningless Old Firm math.
We were barely 60 seconds in when Ryan Kent’s pressing won a loose ball and the Englishman was tripped by the retreating Mikey Johnston some 25 yards out on an angle at the left. Tavernier had the right idea; while his whipped free kick which was missed by everyone but the traffic did enough to defy Scott Bain, who couldn’t keep the ball out of his bottom corner. It was the full back’s 17th of the campaign.
With James Forrest a shock omission due to injury, and Johnny Hayes experiencing a torrid start to the match in relief of Kieran Tierney, Celtic’s two out-and-out strikers in Odsonne Edouard and Oliver Burke largely struggled for service.
Jermain Defoe, leading the line ahead of the available-again Alfredo Morelos, saw a shot saved by Bain then saw a penalty appeal rightly waved away by referee Kevin Clancy. Wes Foderingham, tending goal for Rangers in place of the suspended Allan McGregor, was hardly called into action.
Neil Lennon shuffled his pack in search of tactical answers – bringing Burke back to right midfield and pushing Tom Rogic through the middle off Edouard – and it helped stem the flow but the hosts were still comfortable enough. It was they who ended the half on the ascendancy, Arfield foiled by Bain then Goldson’s header flying narrowly over.
Celtic’s injury issues worsened as half time approached when Mikael Lustig crumbled to the turf – the Swede must already be rated doubtful for Hampden.
Referee Kevin Clancy had had a fairly quiet Old Firm debut but an elbow from Jon Flanagan on Scott Brown, which he deemed worthy of a booking but not a red card, was the first major flashpoint he had to deal with. There was no penalty either as he deemed the ball not to be in play.
The Ibrox side’s clinching second goal was a joy to behold. Glen Kamara started it by spinning cleverly away from Scott Brown, Defoe’s dummy unlocked the Celtic central defence and a gleeful Arfield tucked it into Bain’s bottom corner. Cue bedlam around this ground with a number of fans invading the pitch. Defoe forced a fine save from Bain then clipped the bar with the rebound, it was his parting act before being replaced from the bench by Morelos. The visitors’ only real chance of the day came and went when Oliver Burke’s low shot was too close to Foderingham after excellent work from Edouard.
There was the usual sectarian unpleasantness from the stands, including Neil Lennon being branded a “sad fenian b******”. Much will change in these respective squads before Celtic’s quest for nine in a row begins, but as football contests go this was as one-sided as the 1-0 win over Brendan Rodgers’ side in December. Celtic are worthy champions this season but twice at least this season Rangers might just have planted a seed of doubt in their minds.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel