Last season Rangers and Celtic played each other 7 times. There were the usual four league fixtures, two Scottish Cup ties and the League Cup final. But that wasn’t the whole story. The second Scottish Cup tie was a replay at Parkhead, and things got out of hand, even by Old Firm standards. While the game itself was mostly awful, Rangers had three men sent off (including El Hadji Diouf after the final whistle), Diouf argued with Celtic manager Neil Lennon, and Lennon and Ally McCoist, then assistant manager had to be pulled apart after the final whistle.
Away from the pitch, Lennon received death threats, and an explosive device addressed to him was intercepted. SNP leader Alex Salmond called a summit meeting in an attempt to calm tensions and find ways of reducing the off-field problems that arise after Old Firm clashes.
Flash forward to Sunday, and the first Old Firm match of the season took place at Ibrox, and mercifully, it was the action on the pitch that will get people talking this week. Rangers won an enthralling contest 4-2, after scoring three goals in the second half to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit. Referee Craig Thomson kept a lid on the match, which never threatened to spiral out of control.
The match started in a lively manner, with both teams creating half chances without seriously testing Allan McGregor or Fraser Forster. Charlie Mulgrew received an early booking after a late challenge on the excellent Steven Naismith, and it was Naismith who gave Rangers the lead in the 23rd minute.
Kyle Lafferty found space on the right, but his cross was a poor one. But Celtic defender Kelvin Wilson (making his Old Firm debut), rushed his clearance which went straight to Naismith. He controlled it with his left foot before firing a right footed shot into the roof of the net.
Forster got a touch, but it made little difference as the ball flew into the goals. But Celtic responded well to going behind and equalised just over ten minutes later. A clever reverse ball from captain Scott Brown gave Gary Hooper (probably Celtic’s best player) space on the right of the Rangers penalty area. He brilliantly curled a low shot around Allan McGregor to level the match.
McGregor was then left red-faced as Celtic took the lead shortly before halftime. Celtic’s on-loan leftback Badr El Kaddouri hit a seemingly tame, low shot straight at McGregor, but somehow the normally reliable keeper allowed it to trundle past him into the net. Ibrox was momentarily silenced before Celtic fans at the other end of the pitch erupted in celebration. The visitors had a half-time lead, but the second half was to prove a different story.
From the kickoff, Rangers took control of the match and should have had an equaliser in the 51st minute. A slick passing move lead to Nikica Jelavic playing Kyle Lafferty in and he volleyed home. But the goal was disallowed for offside, despite replays showing Sasa Papac to be offside, but inactive, rather than Lafferty. But an equaliser came just a few minutes later when Jelavic got on the end of a Steven Davis corner and his header bounced high into the net. Lafferty then missed an easy header from a Gregg Wylde cross before missing from even closer range after intercepting El Kaddouri’s poor header.
A defensive mix-up then allowed Rangers to re-take the lead. Charlie Mulgrew’s attempted clearance ricocheted off Kelvin Wilson, and after a scramble, Lafferty took a touch and drilled a low shot through Forster from six yards out. Celtic were reduced to ten men when Mulgrew’s late challenge on Davis resulted in a second yellow card. The win was sealed in injury time, when Naismith scored his second and Rangers’ fourth. After trying to run out time in the corner, the ball arrived at the feet of Steven Davis, and Naismith broke into the box unimpeded to side foot a volley home.
So after 7 games, Rangers now hold a four point lead over Celtic at the top of the table, but more importantly, the reputation of Scottish football has been restored. Scotland’s two biggest clubs contested an entertaining and incident-filled football match that will make headlines for all the right reasons.
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