Rangers 0 Celtic 1:BILLED AS the latest episode in the tale of a wayward winger, this derby ultimately turned on two strikers with differing levels of sharpness and a goalkeeper who always seems to grab headlines when the Old Firm meet.
Despite Aiden McGeady's absence, the champions stretched their lead over Rangers at the top of the table to seven points. Not even a whisper of the Republic of Ireland international's name came from the visiting support at Ibrox. McGeady returns from suspension following a row with his manager Gordon Strachan for next Saturday's visit of Dundee United to Parkhead.
However, the names on everyone's lips on Saturday were Kris Boyd, Artur Boruc and Scott McDonald. Boyd, with 18 goals to his name this season, remains the Scottish game's most prolific marksman, but instances such as that in the 47th minute here support the view that he is not a top-class striker. Sent clean through by Barry Ferguson, Boyd fatally delayed his shot, allowing Boruc time to spread his body and make a fairly straightforward save.
Celtic's players and supporters chose to laud their goalkeeper for his interventions in a fixture in which he has courted controversy in recent times, but Boyd should have been more ruthless.
Enter McDonald. Hitherto notable for some fine work in holding the ball up and linking with Georgios Samaras, the Australian latched on to a flick-on from his fellow striker, turned Kirk Broadfoot and angled a superb volley beyond Allan McGregor.
"We effectively have to go the rest of the season undefeated," conceded the Rangers manager, Walter Smith.
With a draw arguably suiting Celtic more, Rangers carved out the majority of the chances in the first half. Steven Davis tested Boruc early on, with the Celtic goalkeeper called into action to block a decent strike, before the Northern Irishman sent the rebound high and wide across the face of goal.
Then followed a lovely move which saw Pedro Mendes play the ball to Kenny Miller on the left flank. He skipped past Andreas Hinkel before setting up Boyd for the shot but the striker hesitated and was closed down before he could unleash.
Rangers had the ball in the back of the net with 11 minutes on the clock when Kirk Broadfoot bundled home in a packed goalmouth, but referee Craig Thomson ruled Boruc was fouled amid the scrum and the goal was disallowed.
Mendes and Miller then combined again with the striker off target from 10 yards, before Georgios Samaras finally carved out an opportunity at the other end, although his effort trundled harmlessly wide of the upright.
Miller had another chance to open the scoring before the interval when he pounced on a through ball from Boyd but blasted over under pressure.
Rangers started the second half the way they had ended the first by putting pressure on their hosts. This time, Ferguson was the provider but Boruc was able to block Boyd's shot. The striker had another go when Miller was hauled down on the edge of the box by Gary Caldwell and he stepped up for the set-piece. His effort cannoned off the Celtic wall before eventually breaking to Steven Whittaker, who fired wide.
Instead, it was Celtic who opened the scoring after 57 minutes. Samaras's flick-on was met by McDonald and he left Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor with no chance with a superbly struck volley from just inside the area.
McGregor was called into action again when Hartley tried his luck with a speculative volley from distance but this time the keeper was up to the task and able to gather comfortably.
Rangers were in desperate need of a goal but it was their rivals who almost found the back of the net again when Hartley's free-kick found Samaras at the back post and McGregor just managed to hold the downward header.
RANGERS: McGregor, Whittaker (Novo 74), Broadfoot, Weir, Papac, Davis, Mendes, Ferguson, Adam (Lafferty 62), Miller, Boyd. Subs not used: Alexander, McCulloch, Dailly, Niguez, Fleck. Booked: Adam.
CELTIC: Boruc, Hinkel (Wilson 46), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Mizuno (O'Dea 62), Scott Brown, Hartley, Robson, McDonald (Vennegoor of Hesselink 90), Samaras. Subs not used: Mark Brown, Loovens, Crosas, Hutchinson. Booked: Naylor, Caldwell.
Referee: C Thomson (Scotland).
