OF ALL the traditions associated with a Scottish new year, Celtic's failure to win at Ibrox is becoming the most practised. This latest defeat in front of 50,019 fans, however, has probably cost them the championship itself.

Having equalised after falling behind to Jorg Albertz's early opener, Celtic replaced their centre half Alan Stubbs with the attacking Andreas Thom eight minutes from the finish - and lost to two Erik Bo Andersen goals in the time remaining.

The win leaves Rangers 14 points clear of their great rivals. Celtic have two matches in hand but the gap seems insurmountable.

Celtic's initial determination to play a less cavalier game than normal and invite Rangers to commit themselves in attack looked misplaced, given the home team's fitness problems.

Brian Laudrup and Richard Gough were taken out by flu and the pre match speculation suggested that Paul Gascoigne and Andy Goram required heavy medication to play. Since Rangers menace in previous matches had derived from the GascoigneLaudrup partnership, the home thrust was always going to be at least halved.

In fact, the timing of Albertz's goal might well have done Celtic a favour as it brought them a new set of imperatives. Chasing the game after eight minutes, they reverted to pushing Rangers back towards their own area. Unfortunately, throughout a first half in which Celtic won the territorial battle, Paolo Di Canio was so off his form as to be barely recognisable and as a result Jorge Cadete was also peripheral.

The overall impression during that first 45 minutes, in which the teams mustered only three discernible scoring attempts apiece, was that Rangers' defending was more clever than Celtic's attacking.

The home side's starting front line was hardly worthy of the name, consisting as it did of one man, Ally McCoist. Predictably, whatever first half threat the champions posed came from other areas. Ferguson's powerful drive just wide, for example, came after a shrewd run in from the left and pass from Gascoigne. Gordon Petric's early header, forcing Stewart Kerr to hold the ball under the bar, came from Albertz's free kick on the left.

But it was from a set piece after only eight minutes that the German had given Rangers the lead. McStay fouled David Robertson needlessly as Jackie McNamara was stepping in to take possession, but Albertz, from 30 yards, produced a ferocious drive with his left foot. The shot was never more than four feet off the ground, away to the left of Kerr.

Two of Celtic's efforts in the same period were on target. A first time drive from McNamara off Di Canio's centre from the left was blocked by Alan McLaren. The Italian himself received a short free kick from Paul McStay and his shot bounced off Goram's chest, to be cleared by Petric. Di Canio also shot wide after burrowing his way past three defenders on the left.

Indeed, until the 53rd minute introduction of Pierre Van Hooydonk in place of Simon Donnelly it had seemed Celtic would once again fail to outwit the Rangers defence.

The Dutchman had a hand in the 67th minute equaliser but so did a few others. Tommy Boyd carried the ball towards the area on the left and knocked it forward to Van Hooydonk, who at high speed found Cadete. The Portuguese prodded it to Di Canio on the right side of the six yard area and the Italian's low drive at last beat Goram.

That came two minutes after the understandably tiring Gascoigne had been replaced by Charlie Miller. It might have been thought that with him went Rangers' last chance of a second goal, but that would have been to disregard Celtic's capacity for self destruction and it duly showed itself on 83 minutes.

As Brian O'Neil and McNamara, apparently without danger, headed the ball to each other around their own area rather than play it back to Kerr, Albertz nipped in and played it forward to Andersen. The substitute, who had replaced McCoist eight minutes earlier, prodded it past Kerr from six yards.

Andersen completed his double and Celtic's misery in the 89th minute when he ran on to Albertz's pass from the left and sent his right foot shot low to the right of the advancing Kerr.