Alex McLeish's team suffered their first defeat in the manager's seventh Old Firm derby today as Celtic clawed back three points on the leaders with a 1-0 win.
This match keeps the pressure on the blue half of Glasgow and ensures that they are still in the running for the quadruple. With Liverpool in the UEFA Cup next week and Rangers again in the CIS Insurance Cup after that, this is without a doubt the biggest two week period of Celtic's season so far.
The first half was rather uneventful, especially for an Old Firm game, and at 45 minutes the score was nil-nil. Celtic came out in the second half and upped the tempo, putting Rangers under pressure.
Celtic were without Henrik Larsson who is still out with a fractured jaw. It seemed like the home team would miss the Swedish striker when an Alan Thompson corner found John Hartson's head, and the Welshman managed to miss from six yards out. However, he made up for it on the 58th minute to put Celtic in front.
Rangers had a number of breaks, but never really looked likely to get an equaliser, let alone a winner. The final ten minutes was a seige with Rangers piling everything forward. A free kick by Amoruso forced the best from Douglas, but Rangers proved wasteful too, with a corner in the 88th minute going straight out of play, relieving the pressure on the Celtic defence.
Celtic ran out deserving winners in the end with a vital three points in the race for the Scottish Premier League title and a vital psychological boost for the next game with Alex McLeish's men.
filed by Barry J. Whyte
