RANGERS...1 CELTIC...2: This was the final ignominy for hundreds of Rangers fans who streamed out of Ibrox before the end of the fourth Old Firm fixture, and fourth defeat, of the season.
Another Celtic victory did not come as a huge surprise but the way it was achieved set alarm bells ringing for those who follow the fallen champions. Steven Thompson's late goal which gave their team a glimmer of hope after scores from Henrik Larsson and Alan Thompson will not be allowed to paper over the cracks.
Only briefly in the first half, when Peter Lovenkrands missed a simple chance, Stanislav Varga hit his own post and David Marshall saved well from Alan Hutton, and then in the last few minutes after Chris Burke had replaced Zurab Khizanishvili did Celtic need to concentrate.
On the back of their memorable UEFA Cup success against Barcelona they showed no lack of desire despite a Premier League lead that was 16 points before a ball was kicked.
Larsson's simple header after 19 minutes, astonishingly after the game's first free-kick, and Thompson's tap-in after 52 gave Celtic a clear lead and although it was halved in the end they were well worth the three points. In 10 days they have bigger fish to fry in the shape of a European quarter-final against Villarreal.
So for now the focus must be on Rangers, who had Craig Moore and Lovenkrands booked in an otherwise trouble-free day for the referee Kenny Clark.
It will first of all be on Alex McLeish. He started this match with only three midfielders, one of them basically a central defender, in an area of the park where Celtic have quality and quantity. If that was inexplicable then it was no more strange than the manager's preference for Michael Mols over Thompson. The Dutchman will be leaving Ibrox in the summer whereas Thompson is considered to be the future and the younger player is physically more suited to take on a Parkhead team whose height and strength are legendary.
Then there continue to be question marks over Michael Ball, beaten yet again in the air by Larsson for the first goal, Ronald de Boer and Lovenkrands, who is learning that kissing the badge is not enough to fool fans.
McLeish, though, defended his selections and insisted: "The choices weren't wrong. The midfield men have done well in recent games and we look at things like that closely.
"I actually thought it was a decent performance overall. Lovenkrands missed a snip when we were 1-0 down and we had a real go but the goals we lost were a joke. The first was another free header, while the ball for the second should have ended up in Row Z earlier."
Thompson said: "We gave them two sloppy goals and that left us with a mountain to climb against as strong a Celtic team as I have seen. I don't want to feel like this again next season."
Long before then, possibly by next weekend, Celtic will have been crowned champions and even Martin O'Neill marvels at their resilience. "They simply keep on doing it, although things caught up with us and it was a nervy last 10 minutes," he said.
RANGERS: Klos, Hutton, Khizanishvili (Burke 59), Moore, Ball, Rae, Malcolm (Ricksen 80), Hughes, Lovenkrands (Thompson 66), Mols, Ronald de Boer. Subs Not Used: McGregor, Berg. Booked: Lovenkrands, Moore. Goal: Thompson 82.
CELTIC: Marshall, Balde, Kennedy, Varga, Agathe, Petrov, Lennon, Pearson (Miller 77), Thompson, Larsson, Sutton. Subs Not Used: McGovern, Sylla, Lambert, Mjallby. Goals: Larsson 20, Thompson 52.
Referee: K Clark (Scotland).
