Celtic 2 Rangers 1: Celtic have kept their hopes of a successful title defence alive with a dramatic 2-1 home win over league leaders and Old Firm rivals Rangers.

The chance looked to have slipped from their grasp when at 1-1 Scott McDonald missed a 71st minute penalty, but Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbed the winner in the fourth minute of injury time to keep Gordon Strachan's side in the hunt.

The result leaves Celtic one point behind Rangers who have two games in hand but have to face their Glasgow rivals one more time on April 27th.

Shunsuke Nakamura opened the scoring for the Hoops after 20 minutes when he struck a swerving shot past Allan McGregor.

Nacho Novo levelled the scores against the run of play in the 56th minute when his long angled drive was too accurate for Artur Boruc in the Celtic goal.

Celtic dominated for much of the game but the pressure grew even more intense when Cueller was sent off.  The homeside battered the Rangers defence but could not find a way through until McDonald nodded into the path of Vennegoor of Hesselink who sent a header over the line from a few yards out.

The final whistle sparked scenes of chaos with players from both sides battling on the pitch, as Celtic fans celebrated their late, late win.

There were suggestions of a tunnel bust-up following the game and referee Clark had to become involved, but both managers claimed to have missed the fireworks.

"I've not got a clue what happened," Strachan told BBC Radio Scotland. "For me to comment on something I don't know anything about, would be like me talking about politics. I never saw anything there.

"I think he wanted to speak to one or two players after the game. I think he spoke to one or two players."

Rangers boss Walter Smith insisted he was unaware of post-match trouble involving the players and had no comment on flare-ups on the pitch.

"I was coming up the tunnel. I don't know," said Smith. "You look at the two teams who are committed and these type of things will happen.

"I think you'll notice I shake hands with the opposition manager and leave."