Philippe 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,
Rangers
Celtic
Scottish Premiership
as
Brendan Rodgers
Paulo Bernardo
James Tavernier
John Lundstram
Connor Goldson
Leon Balogun
Nick Walsh
Stephen Welsh
Philippe Clement
Michael Beale
Cameron Carter