PHILLIPE CLEMENT’S FIRST Old Firm game ended in his first defeat as Rangers boss as goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi gave Celtic a 2-1 win at Parkhead.
The Belgian had gone 16 games unbeaten since taking over from Michael Beale in October but with no away fans inside the ground due to an allocation dispute between the two clubs it was always going to be the acid test for the injury-hit visitors.
The Ibrox side started the game positively before Hoops midfielder Bernardo scored after 25 minutes, with the Gers missing at least a couple of good chances to level.
Celtic’s prolific striker Furuhashi curled in a second from 20 yards less than two minutes after the restart and there was more woe for the Light Blues in the 71st minute when defender Leon Balogun was shown a straight red card by referee Nick Walsh for denying Daizen Maeda a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Rangers hung on and skipper James Tavernier fired in a wonderful free-kick in the 88th minute but the comeback could not be completed in eight added minutes.
Brendan Rodgers’ side move eight points clear of their Glasgow neighbours at the top of the cinch Premiership and despite having played two games more, the victory could be the springboard to yet another title win.
It was wall-to-wall green and white inside the packed out 60,000-capacity stadium for the lunchtime kick-off and as expected, Hoops centre-back Stephen Welsh replaced the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers with fit-again duo Reo Hatate and Liel Abada back on the bench.
Defender Connor Goldson shrugged off a groin issue and John Lundstram returned to the midfield for Rangers, who gave as good as they got in the early stages.
But in the 12th minute, as the game began to ebb and flow, Bernardo headed a Luis Palma cross past the far post.
Rangers were getting behind the Celtic defence but could not capitalise, with Abdallah Sima’s wild drive over from the edge of the box after 20 minutes a prime example.
Bernardo drove just past the post from a similar distance but moments later, when Palma’s corner from the right ended up at his feet 16 yards out via the head of Sima, the on-loan Benfica player volleyed it powerfully past Gers keeper Jack Butland.
However, there was was huge let-off for the home side on the half-hour mark.
A slack pass from Parkhead full-back Alastair Johnson saw Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers dispossess Welsh to go through against keeper Joe Hart – but inexplicably he refused to shoot and allowed Johnston to get back with a recovery tackle.
Welsh had injured his shoulder in Dessers’ tackle and was immediately replaced by Maik Nawrocki, whose last game was in August.
Ross McCausland and Todd Cantwell both had efforts for the Govan side which should have brought a leveller, and then Clement was shown a yellow card.
There was a possible Rangers penalty for a Johnston handball which came to nothing after a VAR check, with an earlier offside against Sima cited.
The Light Blues would have considered themselves unfortunate to still be behind at the break but in the 47th minute Furuhashi took a pass just outside the box from Matt O’Riley and bent an unstoppable shot past the helpless Butland to totally change the complexion of the encounter.
Kieran Dowell replaced Cantwell and Scott Wright took over from Sima as Clement tried something new while David Turnbull came on for Bernardo just before Balogun was dismissed for taking Maeda down as he raced clear on goal, with centre-back John Souttar coming on for Lundstram in a reshuffle.
However, after a third Celtic goal did not arrive, Tavernier set up a nervy ending when he curled a trademark free-kick from 20 yards past the flailing Hart at his near post.
It was an anxious end to the game for the home fans as Rangers went all out for the leveller, but ultimately to no avail.
C’mon The Bhoys!!!
Today saw the best and worst of Celtic and where they need to improve after the awful recruitment in the summer.
The goals were world class and some of the play was fantastic going forward, the midfield were the stars of the show. Rangers couldn’t get near them.
Then we come to the defence and goalkeeper. My god. Some absolutely awful passing. Continually putting us in danger, particularly the centre backs. Constantly putting the team under pressure because of hospital passes and poor positioning. Been delighted with Scales this season and he’s improved but the experiment needs to end now. Both full backs are awful going forward and need replaced asap.
And let’s not talk about Mikey Johnson’s 15 minute horror show…. Jesus. He can never pull on the hoops again.
@Ciaran Rice: you’ve been delighted with scales but you don’t want him to play now. Why were you delighted with him?
@David Ryan: because he has largely improved his game which is great to see, I want to see Irish players doing well and getting better.
Unfortunately he has been poor for about 6 weeks now, it’s no coincidence that this was the period Celtic started to drop points.
This isn’t all his fault btw. Taylor beside him is probably even more at fault for losing the goals we have in that time. Scales and Taylor are targeted by every team we play. They both need upgraded quickly.
@Ray Farrell: think it’s cos of his undoubted natural talent. Unfortunately talent alone won’t get you far in the game these days. His decision making is awful and he just let Tavernier run off him 4 times today without tracking back. This contributes to 10 man Rangers putting us under pressure for the last 15 mins.
@Ciaran Rice: Throwing out the baby with the bathwater there . Alister Johnson is a decent RB . What experiment are you referring to ? MJ was poor, but 15 mins is hardly long enough to prove much. He got 2 in the last game in 5 mins
@Ciaran Rice: experiment????without scales celtic would be in a worse position than the one they are in presently
@Spzlsince78: and I don’t disagree with that. Doesn’t mean we don’t need an upgrade at left centre back. He is a clear downgrade from Starfelt.
MJ has had much more than 15 mins to prove it. He’s had 6 years. 3 different managers have decided he isn’t good enough. He only gets 15 mins for a reason, as we saw today. Letting Tavernier run off him 4 times and putting the defence under pressure. Taylor was going mental at him.
AJ is a decent defender but offers little going forward. His link up play with whoever is in front of him is always poor and he can’t take a man on. Rodgers like quick attacking full backs in his system.
Rangers were robbed
@Roy Butler: explain