Celtic manager Martin O'Neill refused to criticise Robert Douglas after seeing the Scotland goalkeeper make two crucial errors in his side's 3-3 home draw with Glasgow rivals Rangers yesterday.
"Rab's rather downcast in the dressing- room and it wasn't his best day, but he's saved us in the past and that's the nature of being a goalkeeper," O'Neill said. "From our point of view, they were poor goals to lose. We made a poor start to the game and Rangers got to the pace of it quicker than us."
Douglas was at fault for letting Mikel Arteta's shot slip out of his grasp as Scottish premier league leaders Rangers scored a sixth-minute opener before Henrik Larsson scored twice to put the home side ahead early in the second half.
Ronald de Boer brought Rangers level with a header before Douglas again blundered as he failed to hold Arthur Numan's shot, allowing Shota Arveladze to force home the rebound under pressure from two defenders.
Chris Sutton scored a late equaliser but the result leaves Celtic trailing their Glasgow rivals by one point in second place.
In the English Premiership, champions Arsenal maintained their two-point lead at the top of the table and their record-breaking unbeaten run with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Sunderland.
Liverpool kept up the chase but left it late, as England striker Michael Owen scored in the last minute to snatch a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield.
Arsenal, the defending champions, have 23 points to the 21 of Liverpool.
Middlesbrough, 2-0 winners over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, are third on 17 while Tottenham Hotspur moved up to fourth on 16 yesterday when an 89th-minute Jamie Redknapp goal earned them a 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers.
At Ewood Park, Robbie Keane (below) put Spurs ahead after six minutes with his first goal for the club. Egil Ostenstad equalised for the hosts midway through the second half before Redknapp's winner a minute from time.
"It's a tough place to come but we dug deep and worked hard as a team and got the result," Keane said.
In Spain, Ronaldo came off the bench to make a dramatic Real Madrid debut yesterday, taking just one minute to score his first goal and adding a second inside 15 minutes of football for his new club in a league game against Alaves.
A 75,000 full house at the Bernabeu roared their approval as the Brazilian trotted out to replace Javier Portillo after 64 minutes with Real struggling to hold on to a 2-1 lead.
Ronaldo needed just a few seconds to make his impact, shrugging off two defenders to take a cross from the left on his chest and smash the ball past Richard Dutruel.
