Celtic began 2004 by leaping a giant 11 points clear of their bitterest rivals at the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League with a punishing victory at Parkhead. John Hartson failed to break the record of scoring in five consecutive Old Firm league matches and Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton were both unusually absent from the scoresheet. But that did not matter a jot as Martin O'Neill's men registered their second win of the season over Rangers courtesy of goals from unsung heroes Stilian Petrov, Stanislav Varga and Alan Thompson.
The Hoops also set a new milestone in recording their 18th consecutive league victory while stretching their unbeaten record at Parkhead to an incredible 67 matches. Celtic now look certain to land an automatic Champions League place. That will still not end the speculation linking O'Neill with a move to one of England's top clubs but it went some way to killing off Alex McLeish's hopes of retaining the championship.
The Rangers manager hoped to lift his side by granting new signing Gavin Raehis Old Firm debut. But Larsson almost got away in the fifth minute after Henning Berg had horribly misjudged Sutton's long ball as his footing give way and the Rangers defence cleared the danger. But while the visitors looked vulnerable at the back they also posed a threat on the break. Craig Moore got on the end of Mikel Arteta's corner but Shota Arveladze was unable to get a telling touch at the back post.
But Celtic forced a succession of corners just after the quarter-hour mark which almost brought them the opener. Thompson swung in an inviting cross to the back post where Balde was on hand to launch a bullet header but Stefan Klos brilliantly pushed his effort away. However Celtic were celebrating the opener in the 19th minute following a superbly worked goal. Larsson curled an inviting ball to the back post and Petrov came in to head towards the bottom corner.
Klos still managed to get a hand to the ball but he could not prevent it from hitting the post and rolling over the line. Rangers were still in it and Douglas was helpless as Chris Burke fired a dangerous low ball across the face of goal which managed to elude his team-mates. At the other end Varga was livid with himself after getting to Thompson's free-kick on the half hour but after rising above a melee of players he headed well off target.
Referee Stuart Dougal had been rather lenient after a number of bad challenges and an Arteta rant but he finally took action moments later when he booked Michael Ball for a foul on Petrov. McLeish was forced to make a change in the 34th minute when his gamble on Rae, who had recently been struggling with a hamstring injury, backfired and on came Michael Mols in his place. But Celtic came within inches of giving themselves a two-goal cushion at the break.
Agathe skipped past three tackles and crossed from the byline to Thompson but his glancing header went just past the upright. Rangers enjoyed their best spell after the break but they failed to hurt Celtic as Moore followed Arteta into the book. Moore saw yellow in the 57th for a petulant trip on the Swede as he set off on the chase for Hartson's through-ball. From the resulting free-kick Rangers were fortunate not to go further behind.
With his back to goal and under pressure from Fernando Ricksen, Larsson flicked the ball over his head and the ball came back off the upright and Moore put the ball behind from the corner. Rangers were not so lucky moments later when Thompson swung in a corner to the back post. Balde headed back into the danger area and Varga made no mistake as he nodded the ball the over the line from three yards.
Michael Mols almost dragged his team-mates back into the game and the title race in the 64th minute when he neatly turned inside the box and fired aright-footed shot just past the post. But the home side rubbed more salt into Rangers' wounds in the 83rd minute when Thompson curled a superb left-footed free-kick into the top corner of the net from over 25 yards.
That and the performance of Sutton would have added impressed the watching England number two Tord Grip. Rangers also hit the woodwork moments later when Arveladze's shot took a deflection off Balde and crashed back off the bar - but that summed up the day and situation for the Ibrox men.
Filed by Brendan Cole
