Celtic v Rangers

I predicted a comfortable win for Celtic today but slackness at the back cost Celtic an early goal and had Rangers taken the excellent chances they made could have been 3-0 up at half-time. Celtic recovered to take control of the game and equalised towards the end of the first half. They controlled the second half but found Klos in excellent form. The end of the game saw a farcical situation where three got sent off (Mjallby, Hartson, Ricksen) and no doubt heralds appeals by Celtic.

Celtic pushed forward right from the whistle and following a knockdown from a Moravcik free kick, Thompson had a shot blocked. Rangers cleared their lines and from a free kick deep inside the Rangers half the ball was sent over the top. Mjallby and Boyd both moved towards the ball and Boyd only succeeded in knocking it to Lovenkrands running down the left. Mjallby made a desperate attempt to get back to cover, but the Dane's shot deflected off Mjallby and over Douglas.

A typical Amoruso wild free kick attempt followed and then Mjallby did well to cut out a dangerous Latapy ball to Lovenkrands before a good knockdown from Hartson to Larsson took both Klos and Ross to cut out the danger.

Moravcik beat Ross in 11 minutes but his cross was cleared by Malcolm. 3 minutes later he picked up a ball from a corner on the left and turned and shot. He's scored them before but this time his attempt went well wide.

The Celtic defence were caught out again as Rangers broke and Kanchelskis' crossfield ball found Lovenkrands with Lambert rushing in to try and cover. His shot was poor and went wide of the post and the advancing Douglas. Should have been 2-0.

Flo flopped in the box on 16 minutes when he had no real chance of getting on the ball - Boyd though had a hold of his shirt. 7 minutes later, Crainey matched a Lovenkrands run down the left. His tackle in the box clearly won the ball but the Dane was calling for the penalty. (Surprise?)

Lambert was booked in 28 minutes for a late challenge on Lovenkrands.

Rangers picked up the ball after a Celtic corner and the ball was fed to Latapy inside the box. A great chance squandered as he curled the ball just past the post.

Celtic began to get up some momentum and won a free kick on 36 minutes when Amoruso handled outside the box. Henrik ran over the ball and Lubo's curling shot went just over. His dream of a goal in this game was not to be with Ricksen sticking close to him at all times.

Thomson was moving well and making good runs but his delivery was not up to his usual standard. However on 39 minutes he went on a run and sent in a superb cross in front of goal which was just missed by Larsson.

Larsson had the last chance of the first half shooting from distance but his stinging drive was saved by the alert Klos.

In the first minute of the second half Lambert limped off to be replaced by Petrov.

From a Rangers free kick the ball fell to Nerlinger. He controlled it on the chest and shot but his lob went well over.

Lubo got his last chance to score against Rangers at Celtic Park when he found himself in a great position to get on the end of an Agathe cross but put it over when he could have done better.

On 71 minutes Lubo took his final bow at home when he was replaced by Guppy.

In 77 minutes Amoruso was booked after a tackle on Larsson as he ran down the right. He followed this up by tackling Hartson from behind outside the box.

Rangers had Klos to thank again as Thompson hit the free kick on target and his shot from the rebound was cleared by Amoruso.

Shortly afterwards Klos dived at the feet of Stan as Henrik played him in on goal.

In the 87th minute Hartson rose to direct a Celtic corner goalwards. The bar and Klos stopped it and as Klos scrambled for the ball Larsson and Mjallby lunged in. Ricksen, standing on the line pushed Mjallby. As Mjallby got up to remonstrate with him several players got in the way to block his path. Hartson also rushed in and attempting to pull Robert Malcolm away from the scene pulled him over. The 2 players got up and hugged each other while Ross similarly pulled down Mjallby. The referee, Clark had been quick on the scene and got far too involved and in the melee somebody tugged at his shirt. His decision to send off Mjallby and Hartson was ridiculous as neither of them had been guilty of violent conduct. I think he could have simpled booked Ricksen and left it at that.

This final scene spoiled what was a good game with Celtic getting away with some defensive lapses and then going on to dominate. We remain undefeated at Celtic Park this season, have the Championship won and Rangers did not manage to beat us in the League for the first time in many a long season.

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