A last minute Chris Sutton stunner secured the points today, making it a clean sweep for The Bhoys over Rangers this season. It is the first time there have been five consecutive Old Firm victories in a season since 1964. Celtic have now won the last six Old Firm games, confirming our superiority in this country.
Only a goal settled the game, but in truth, it could have been four or five. Celtic’s second half performance was rampant, as The Champions hammered the Rangers goal. Rangers could only conjure up a couple of chances in the match.
Martin O’Neill announced what could be described as his strongest side. Agathe and McNamara returned, but youngster Aiden McGeady had to settle for a place on the bench.
Prior to kick off, Rangers supporters embarrassed themselves once again with a pathetic display of beach balls, which only highlighted the fact that we progressed further than them in Europe, and that our beach ball display at Ibrox in March was far superior! Banners thanking Villarreal in Spanish were shown, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find our Greek dictionaries to make one of our own.
Celts started off looking a lot more up for the game than we have been in the last few weeks.
With today’s game looking more like a Championship celebration rather than a meaningful Old Firm match, it was obvious Hugh Dallas was out to spoil the party. He chopped off a perfectly legitimate Stan Varga goal after only two minutes. It was to be the start of a woeful performance by the official.
Celtic were hardly performing as world-beaters, and were starting to show some signs of laziness, giving the ball away far too often. David Marshall made a great save from a Frank de Boer header – Rangers’ only threat at goal in the first half.
Fernando Ricksen is insane. He should have been sent off after a deliberate stamp on Neil Lennon in the centre of the field, but unbelievably, Hugh Dallas waved claims for an ordering off away, and gave Rangers a free-kick! Video evidence must be looked at here, and Commando should be sent home to Holland.
There was a flat mood as the half time whistle blew. We knew we could have been playing better, and we should have been 1-0 up.
However, in the second half, Celtic began to show why we have been crowned Champions. In Martin O’Neill’s words, it was “wave after wave” of Celtic attacking, and Rangers, once again have Stefan Klos to thank for keeping the scoreline so low.
The whole of the Main Stand thought Stan Petrov had put Celtic into the lead, after Henrik Larsson – in his last Old Firm game – squared the ball to him. The ball was too far in front of Petrov, though, and his shot hit the side-netting.
Didier Agathe was having a funny kind of game. One minute he was lackadaisical in giving the ball away, then he would win it back and attack at the Rangers defence. He made a fantastic solo run midway through the second half, and for about 20 yards of his run, Larsson was free in the middle. However, Agathe selfishly opted to go alone and the chance fizzled away.
Larsson missed a glorious opportunity to bid a farewell to Rangers, as his pass back-like shot was easily save by Klos, who had previously made a great stop from a Chris Sutton header.
Rangers fans shamed football with their racist monkey chants towards Celtic’s Bobo Balde. How many times will they be allowed to get away with this? It is 2004, and if that kind of abuse was dished out in the streets, there would be hell to pay. However, supporters of Rangers FC get away with it every single time they play Celtic. And it is getting worse.
Steven Thompson, the Ibrox battering ram, had a chance to give Rangers a late lead, but his looping header went wide.
It was clear Rangers’ legs were giving way, they looked tired and their fans were doing somersaults at the possibility of a 0-0 draw with Celtic.
Aiden McGeady replaced the poor Stephen Pearson, and immediately, his optimistic shot was blasted over the bar. The fourth official indicated 2 minutes of stoppage time were to be played, and there were loud sighs around Parkhead, as it looked as though Rangers would sneak a lucky point in Paradise.
But Chris Sutton had other ideas. After receiving a return pass from Larsson, he sidestepped his marker, and saw Klos off his line. A chip was the only option, and the big Englishman went for it. It was a sublime finish, in the last minute of the game. There was no way back for Rangers.
Today was the fifth time we have defeated Rangers this season, and was arguably the sweetest of them all. Winning Old Firm games has become the norm at Celtic, but today’s victory had a special edge to it, perhaps due to the last minute winner. It was also such a special goal to decide the match, and will be a hard one to take for Rangers fans everywhere.
There will be plenty of broken television sets in Glasgow tonight.
Celtic:
Marshall – 8
Varga – 9
Balde - 8
McNamara – 9
Agathe – 8
Petrov – 7
Pearson – 6 (McGeady - 6)
Lennon – 9
Thompson – 7
Larsson – 7
Sutton – 9
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Chris Sutton
Celtic-Mad Moment to Remember: The joy as Sutton’s chip hit the net.
Celtic-Mad Moment to Forget: Rangers fans’ shady beach ball display. Not impressive and not original.