RANGERS’ extra-time victory in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday proved they have both the ability and tenacity required to defeat a Celtic side that is very much in the ascendency on their day.

But will the wildly-celebrated triumph have any ramifications in the cinch Premiership in the coming weeks? Can they come from six points behind with five games to go and retain their title against all the odds?

Chris Sutton, the former Celtic striker turned provocative media pundit, is adamant that anything can still happen after the weekend’s events. “The league is absolutely not done and dusted,” he said.

The two final day defeats which Sutton suffered during his time as a player in this country in 2003 and 2005 are clearly still fresh in his memory.

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Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side will, even though they will have fewer than 1,000 fans in the 58,000-strong crowd, fancy their chances of beating Ange Postecoglou’s team when they meet once again at Parkhead on Sunday week following their hard-fought cup win.  

They limited their city rivals to just two shots on target during the 120 minutes – one of which was a second-half Greg Taylor strike that took a deflection off Calvin Bassey and spun beyond goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin – and created several good scoring chances themselves.

Their display was a significant improvement on those they had produced in a 3-0 loss in the East End of Glasgow back in February and a 2-1 reverse in Govan at the start of this month and went a long way towards silencing their many critics.   

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Yet, even if, and it is a big if given how one-sided the encounter was on the last occasion they travelled to Celtic Park, they do prevail in the final Old Firm match of the 2021/22 campaign, they will still require the top flight leaders, who have a vastly superior goal difference, to slip up not once but twice in their other four games.

Celtic have still, despite their treble bid coming to an end, not lost in regulation time domestically since September 19. They have still gone 34 matches on the home front without being beaten in 90 minutes. They have, too, got Kyogo Furuhashi, their free-scoring Japanese forward, back after a three-and-a-half month injury lay-off.

It will take a freakish collapse of unprecedented proportions for Rangers to retain the Premiership trophy on May 14. 

Steven Davis, the vastly-experienced Northern Ireland internationalist who came on for Ryan Jack in the second-half on Sunday and helped his side to score two goals, is convinced the defending Scottish champions are not out of the running yet. 

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“There is a lot to play for,” he said when he was interviewed by Rangers TV after the game. “We know the position in the league and we are going to have to get things to go for us a little bit.

“We just have to concentrate on doing our own job, hopefully picking up the points and trying to put a little bit of pressure on them. The boys have been excellent throughout this run. Hopefully we can keep that going. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

But Van Bronckhorst’s charges will be doing well to take 12 points from their other Premiership games against Motherwell and Hearts away and Dundee United and Ross County at home if they do manage to beat Celtic again. They have not won five league fixtures in a row in 2022.

The draining Europa League quarter-final second leg tie against Braga at Ibrox on Thursday night had no visible impact on the Rangers players’ energy levels at Hampden; Calvin Bassey, Connor Goldson, John Lundstram, Kemar Roofe and James Tavernier were all excellent despite being taken to extra-time three days earlier.   

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Will having two mentally and physically demanding semi-final games against RB Leipzig of Germany – the first of which is in the Red Bull Arena on Thursday week – hinder them in their remaining Premiership matches?

They have dropped vital league points after big continental ties four times this season. They have drawn with Aberdeen, Ross County, Dundee United and Motherwell since play resumed after the winter break back in January and have gone from leading by six points to trailing by the same margin as a result.

It is all very well rising to the occasion in an Old Firm derby or a big European game. But Rangers must perform at their best every time they take to the field to satisfy their supporters’ demands. To date, they have not.

The win in Mount Florida showed that Van Bronckhorst has the tactical wherewithal and motivational qualities needed to get the better of his wily opposite number Postecoglou. However, he still has much to prove against the lesser Premiership sides.

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The substitutes which the Dutchman made at the weekend – he threw on Scott Arfield, Leon Balogun, Davis, Glen Kamara and Fashion Sakala as the game wore on – proved key to the victory.

Does he, though, really have the strength in depth which he requires to negotiate such a hectic schedule in the coming weeks? The injury which Juventus loanee Aaron Ramsey suffered in the first-half has come at an inopportune moment. He is already without long-term absentees Ianis Hagi, Filip Helander and Alfredo Morelos.   

When Alex McLeish took over from Dick Advocaat as Rangers manager back in the December of 2001, the Ibrox club’s prospects of winning the Premier League were remote after a disastrous run of form. 

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But McLeish led his boyhood heroes to a League Cup and Scottish Cup double – and wins over Celtic in the semi-final and final of those competitions respectively – in his debut season. And he built on those morale-boosting wins the following year and completed a treble.  

If Rangers can defeat Hearts in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden on May 21 and lift the oldest trophy in world football for the first time since way back in 2009, it can serve as a catalyst to greater domestic success next season. However, retaining the Premiership next month is beyond them.