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Quick Review

Miller had the first clear-cut chance of the game after racing clear of Papac to a long ball out of defence. But, with McGregor racing off his line, the attempted lob was high and wide. McGregor blocked clear a powerful effort by Shunsuke Nakamura and did even better when turning away Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's dipping 20-yard volley at full stretch.
Celtic took the lead when a Neil Lennon cross found the head of the unmarked McGeady eight yards from goal. Although McGregor made a superb block with his right hand, Gravesen was following up to head his first Celtic goal from a couple of yards out.
McGeady almost had his name of the scoresheet with a 25-yard drive that skimmed the top of the crossbar.
Just as Rangers started to apply some pressure, McGeady picked out Miller, who grabbed his first goal since joining Celtic.
Celtic ran out deserved winners of the first Old Firm derby of the season.

Trivia

Rangers fifth game in a row against Celtic without scoring!
Thomas Gravesen scores his first goal for Celtic.
Kenny Miller scores debut goal for Celtic, against his former club!

Teams

Celtic: (4-4-2):-
Boruc, Telfer, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura (Sno 71), Lennon, Gravesen (Pearson 87), McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Miller (Zurawski 78).

Subs not used:- Marshall, Maloney, Balde, O'Dea.

Booked:- Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Goals:- Gravesen 35, Miller 74 (Miller’s debut goal for Celtic).

Rangers: McGregor, Hutton (Sionko 61), Rodriguez (Rae 82), Papac, Smith, Burke (Martin 64), Ferguson, Hemdani, Prso, Adam, Kris Boyd.

Subs not used:- Robinson, Svensson, Sebo, Buffel.

Booked:- Hutton, Martin.

Att: 59,341

Ref: D McDonald.

KStreet

• Match Thread
• Gloating Thread
• MOTM Voting
• Winner - Aiden McGeady - (Link to MOTM Winners 2006-07)

Articles

• BBC Report
• WGS Interview
• Paul Le Guen (Gers Mgr) interview
• Strachan praises team and Rangers
• Le Guen says Rangers will improve

Pictures

• Match Pictures

Article

(S Herald)


PRESUMABLY the fool who first said that the form book goes out of the window in Old Firm games has gone into hiding. Celtic, the heavy favourites, lived up to their billing with a comfortable victory which delivered every one of the headaches which had been predicted for Rangers manager Paul Le Guen.

Rangers have won on only one of their last 16 visits to Parkhead. The fact that the sorry sequence was amassed by his predecessors is irrelevant to how the Frenchman is being perceived.
In moving seven points clear of Rangers after eight matches, Celtic can revel in the sort of superiority which will have Le Guen reaching for the paracetamol.
An exciting derby, without the sluggishness which sometimes undermines those which kick-off at lunchtime, was won when goals from Celtic's big summer signings, Thomas Gravesen and Kenny Miller - scoring his first goal after 16 Celtic appearances - crushed a Rangers team which lacked the substance to survive an Old Firm game.
It was a bad day for the club all round given that their supporters did not meet the anti-sectarianism challenge put to them by David Murray and captain Barry Ferguson.
Chants about 'Fenians' and the Pope came loud and clear from the away end, particularly in the second half, in defiance of how they have been advised to behave by the club and Uefa.
The Celtic support's contribution was to sing to Le Guen, a Catholic, that he was an Òorange bastardÓ who should cheer up. This was the first derby since banning orders were introduced for discriminatory chanting, and too many did not care.
Whatever forward steps Rangers and Celtic have been able to take, an Old Firm fixture is still liable to set them back a few centuries.
For those concerned with the actual football, there was what amounted to an admission of failure from Le Guen before a ball was kicked.
Even allowing for the fact Lionel Letizi and Jeremy Clement were injured and Phil Bardsley suspended, it was an indictment of his recent transfer market judgment that the starting team contained only one of his 11 signings.
Effectively he attempted to draw a winning performance from a set of players who had proved to be unfit for the task under his predecessor.
Rangers had three Old Firm debutants in from the start and Celtic four Ð not counting ex-Ranger Miller Ð which underlined the fact that Gordon Strachan has been able to buy the finished article.
Le Guen has assembled an assortment of unproven, unknown names. If Karl Svensson, Libor Sionko and Filip Sebo are not considered suitable for the only domestic fixture which truly matters to Rangers, having all been at the the club for several weeks at the very least, then will they ever be ready?
All of them were on the bench, spectators to a performance which revealed the gulf in quality between the two Old Firm squads.
Rangers had other disappointments. Kris Boyd has never scored against Celtic in 15 appearances and only looked likely to do so when he won his only tussle of the day against the excellent Gary Caldwell and crashed a shot off the top of the crossbar.
Rangers' most menacing operator was Dado Prso, whose sporadic surges displayed the spirit and physical presence which was otherwise lacking in his side.
One rampaging run away left Gravesen and Neil Lennon trailing in his slipstream and briefly lifted Rangers' spirits, winning them an inviting free-kick on the edge of the area. Ferguson struck it lamely into the wall and there would have been a few in the Rangers end who envied their opponents for having a dead ball specialist like Shunsuke Nakamura.
Rangers managed only one attempt on target in the whole match and that was down to Prso too, his firm header forcing Lee Naylor into a goal-line clearance at the back post. Celtic did not have to be outstanding to confirm themselves a class above their opponents. Caldwell and Stephen McManus were faultless in their first game as a partnership against Rangers, providing the cornerstone of Celtic's win.
Rangers have juggled their defensive options this season but whatever back four they send out, it is crippled by poor positioning, a lack of ruggedness and an absence of organisation.
A Miller lob and shots from Nakamura and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, the latter pair forcing excellent saves from Allan McGregor, might have had Celtic ahead earlier during a first half they controlled.
Their goal came when no-one closed down Neil Lennon before he crossed from the right into a defensive vacuum at the six yard box.
Aiden McGeady was unchallenged for a header which brought a good stop from McGregor. No Rangers player was close enough to react to the rebound as it spun up and fell at the back post, where Gravesen bundled it over the line.
Gravesen was quietly effective in a game which lacked any central figure or villain, though the spectacle was none the worse for it.
Lennon cupped his ear to the Rangers support at one point, as if obeying a personal bylaw that he must try to wind-up the opposition at least once in every derby.
Rangers' young Scottish full-backs could not prevent a steady delivery from the wings for Celtic, and the concession of such a routine goal instantly eroded the morale in Le Guen's team.
Celtic had chances to extend their lead through a McGeady shot which kissed the crossbar and then a rising effort from Nakamura.
At that point there was little to suggest Rangers would offer more than grim resistance for the remainder of the match. Although they did so, producing a phase of spirited play early in the second half, there was a sense of raggedness about them which was reflected in Le Guen's decision to switch to a back three with half an hour left.
Their unfamiliar line-up immediately looked vulnerable to Celtic's pace. Although Strachan was on the brink of replacing him with Maciej Zurawski, Miller latched on to McGeady's pass to hold off the despairing Ferguson and jab a low shot past McGregor.
Parkhead revelled in it, sensing that it would hurt Rangers even more to have been floored by a player they had not considered good enough to wear light blue.
That was back in 2001, of course. For Rangers, yesterday confirmed that standards are not what they used to be.