Rangers 0 Celtic 2:FOR ONCE the football was kept in proportion when the Old Firm met at Ibrox in their traditional new year encounter. Fittingly, a Glasgow derby fell on the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster, an occasion in which 66 Rangers supporters lost their lives and a further 145 were injured on account of crushing at the end of a meeting with Celtic.
In a timely antidote to Glasgow’s occasional madness, a minute of silence before kick-off yesterday was impeccably observed, with applause earlier ringing out towards members of both squads from 1971 who took to the field.
The tributes paid will resonate at Ibrox for a considerable time, even if what followed will not. Celtic were deserved winners of this game, moving four points clear of their old adversaries in the process, after a double from the outstanding Georgios Samaras.
Of the countless football managers who publicly claim to be blissfully unaware of criticism fired in their direction, Neil Lennon is not among them. Celtic’s manager arrived at Ibrox with questions hanging over him. Not only has the Parkhead team’s form been patchy but Lennon had lost every key encounter he had entered since being appointed last March.
Lennon will savour this Old Firm win more than those he sampled as a Celtic player. He also revelled in proving a point to his detractors.
“It’s huge,” he said of the win. “A lot of people, from what I have read and heard, had written us off, given us no chance. I think I have answered a lot of questions considering people pointed the finger and said I didn’t win big games. Well, we certainly did that today and did it with a bit of style.”
As if to emphasise nothing passes him by, Lennon exchanged words with the Rangers player Kyle Lafferty at full-time. Lafferty used his Twitter account to offer a sly dig towards Celtic’s manager after Rangers won the season’s first Glasgow derby, back in October. “You might read about it on his Twitter page tonight,” said Lennon of the brief altercation.
One of Lennon’s predecessors, and the last man to mastermind a Celtic win at Ibrox, played a part in this result. The Irishman revealed he had called Gordon Strachan on Saturday to discuss the possibility of fielding Samaras as a lone striker.
The 25-year-old duly produced his finest performance in green and white, scoring twice in eight second-half minutes.
A dreadful first half was notable only for a Lee McCulloch header which was knocked on to a Celtic post and a solitary chance for the visitors.
James Forrest wasted that, delaying a shot and allowing McCulloch to make a saving tackle.
Allan McGregor and Ricky Foster were jointly culpable for the first intervention of Samaras. Foster cheaply conceded possession, allowing Joe Ledley to send his team-mate through on goal.
The decision of the goalkeeper McGregor to charge 20 yards with the odds strongly against him beating Samaras to the ball was questionable; with the goal gaping, the Celtic man coolly slotted home.
Samaras won and converted the penalty which secured three points. After ghosting past Jamie Ness, Samaras was upended by Madjid Bougherra. Even in such a fevered, conspiracy-fuelled atmosphere, the award was beyond debate. As was Celtic’s value in victory.
Guardian Service
RANGERS: McGregor, Foster (Lafferty 68), Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Davis, Ness (Hutton 84), McCulloch, Whittaker, Miller, Weiss. Subs not used: Alexander, Fleck, Beattie, Webster, Kerkar. Booked: Bougherra, Lafferty.
CELTIC: Forster, Wilson, Majstorovic, Rogne, Izaguirre, Forrest (McGinn 88), Kayal, Ledley, Mulgrew, McCourt, Samaras. Subs not used: Zaluska, Juarez, Hooiveld, Stokes, Crosas, Towell. Booked: Mulgrew, Samaras, Wilson, Kayal.
Referee: C Thompson(Scotland).
