It was a cold, wet and windy day in the East End of Glasgow as the teams emerged. Chris Sutton didn't make it, but new Bhoy Juninho got his Celtic debut. Henri Camara and John Hartson started up-front, while Jackie McNamara and Stan Varga shook off knocks to play.
Rangers' game plan was simple: to kick everything that moves and play on the counter attack in the hope of snatching a goal. The ruined the game with their negative tactics and are no level higher than the Motherwell, Aberdeen or Kilmarnock sides who play the exact same way when they come to Parkhead.
Neil Lennon made sure there was always going to be one winner in the midfield, he clattered Alex Rae in the opening minutes of the match.
For the first fifteen minutes of the game Rangers resorted to fouling Celtic at every opportunity, in a bid to overcome the Champions' initial hunt for a goal.
Celts appeared to be giving the ball away easily in the early stages of the game, and Didier Agathe was proving his worth as a right-back when he slid to tackle the slow Prso in the Celtic area.
Celtic were dominating the game, Juninho was showing signs of his capabilities - he is going to be a hero here. The little Brazillian was clearly frustrated at Henri Camara on 25 minutes when Camara appeared to take the ball from Juninho, who was at the end of a great run.
The game was not bringing many chances but it looked to be only a matter of time before Celtic scored. Rangers were playing with one man up-front and ten men behind the ball. Hardly traditional stuff from the boys in blue.
On the stroke of half time, Juninho was involved again, attempting to chip Stefan Klos. Unfortunatley, the shot was just too high and as referee Hugh Dallas blew the whistle for half time, the huns seemed to be doing somersaults at the prospect of a possible point.
From the start of the second half, Celtic were on the offensive once again. Henri Camara whipped a ball across the face of goal, but there were no takers in the six yard box. Camara looks too keen to impress and he hasn't done so yet. I know it is early but we need players, like Juninho, who can slot into any team. Camara doesn't look to be one of them.
John Hartson saw his header go straight into the arms of Stefan Klos just before the hour mark. The game looked to have 0-0 written all over it.
Unbelievably, Hugh Dallas booked Bobo Balde for a completely unintentional hand ball. This guy would maybe want to take a look at himself. Rangers were persistently fouling Celtic players throughout the game, yet Dallas' first card of the game was shown to Balde for that.
Ross Wallace replaced Henri Camara but failed to do much to impress. He had one good cross into the box but gave the ball away far too cheaply, allowing Rangers to attack. Prso should have scored when he only had the goalkeeper to beat, but David Marshall done well to stop the shot.
The Rangers support seem to have cut out the monkey noises with a couple of black players on their books. But it looks as though they will never stop the bile sectarian songs which they continue to sing on the terraces. They were silenced, though, with six minutes of the game to go.
Alan Thompson was Celtic's goalscorer, and it was a tremdous strike - one to finish any game. A clearence from the Rangers area landed at Thompson's feet and he had time to set up a shot. With his left foot, he rifled the ball into the roof of the net. Stefan Klos had no chane, and the ball appeared to dip as it was heading for the goal.
Rangers threw everything at us but they were never going to score. They played for a draw and they got nothing.
Five points clear at the top of the league and it's not even September. We have nothing to worry about this season, if that is all Rangers have to offer then they can give us the trophy now.
Happy days indeed!
Celtic:
Marshall - 8
Balde - 8
Vara - 7
McNamara - 7
Lennon - 9
Thompson - 7
Petrov - 8
Agathe - 8
Juninho - 9 (Valgaeren - 5)
Camara - 6 (Wallace)
Hartson - 6 (Sylla - 5)
Come On The Hoops Man Of The Match: Neil Lennon
Come On The Hoops Moment To Remember: Neil Lennon smoking an imaginary cigar at the end of the game. Legend!
Come On The Hoops Moment To Forget: The Rangers fans. A disgrace as usual.