3 points and surely the title for Rangers?

Injury time winner seals it

Only the most optimistic of Celtic fans will believe they still have a chance of winning the title. It is not mathematically impossible so no one at the club should concede anything but in reality, 10 point gap with a game in hand should see Rangers home comfortably.

The first half of the Ibrox match was fairly equal, both sides creating chances and Dougie McDonald getting involved whenever he could. Applying the letter of the law at times whilst ignoring it at others is the sort of inconsistency that fans hate and only leads to confusion and anger.

All four forwards had chances to break the deadlock and the two keepers earned their wages in the first half. Both keepers were singled out for near enough constant abuse from the opposition fans but at times they looked the most composed men on the park.

The second half was an equally scrappy affair with Rangers having more of it. The light blues task was made considerably easier when McDonald chose to send off Scott Brown. Brown stupidly got himself involved when a cooler head would have stayed away but he is yet another player that Lafferty has got sent off by play-acting.

The Northern Irish international was yet again an influential player in a match but once again, not through any talent. This stands in sharp contrast to the other Northern Irish international on the park, Steven Davis, who was at the heart of everything good Rangers did pushing forward.

Rangers fans will counter the expected cries of the Celtic fans by a penalty claim they felt they should have had a penalty when Hinkel and Edu clashed. They’ve been given but we’ll need replays before we can say for definite either way.

What should also be said is that Madjid Bougherra was fortunate not to be sent off.

McDonald realised this and started to ignore fouls by the Algerian stopper after he had committed his fourth foul after an early booking…or pehaps he just made honest mistakes in missing them.

Again being fair to the player, Bougherra was excellent for Rangers, making some crucial interventions and adding an extra dimension in attack. The Algerian played a major role in the winner but of course, hoops fans will say he shouldn’t have been on the park at that time. They would have a point.

So, no real surprises. Celtic were non-existent as an attacking force in the second half, partly due to McDonald but partly because their own passing and harassing from midfield was dire.

Rangers worked harder and were always more liable to pick up the second ball and if you have more possession in these games, you are more likely to score. Rangers would have been happy with the draw but the late winner from Edu sent the home fans happy and dreaming of the treble.

Also, the Celtic fans who did not respect the minutes silence need to take a look at themselves. Of the 8,000 who packed the Broomloan Road, a small number broke the silence but they badly let their club and fellow fans down. Then again, anyone looking to score points from fans at a Rangers v Celtic game needs their head examined. Bile rained down from all four stands at points throughout the game. Again, nothing new…the game could have been taken from any year throughout these two clubs history.

So, where to now?

Rangers can turn their attention to the cups as they look to the treble. Again, only a biased individual would say that Rangers were not the best team on the day (for the second half alone) and the better collective unit than Celtic. It was easily the best performance by Rangers in the three Celtic games so far.

Celtic really need to win the Scottish Cup whilst hoping they can build to next season. It is a funny situation at the moment, can anyone say either of the two managers will definitely be in charge next season?

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