Derek McInnes got Ibrox bouncing here, his Rangers side dominating Celtic in front of an all-blue crowd to decide the first Old Firm encounter of the season.
To a backdrop of bouncing techno, Rangers fans celebrated three memorable goals in a thumping win. A brace for the skipper, Dan Neil, bookended Kevin Kelsy’s second-half finish to down Martin O’Neill’s with relative ease. It also showcased a nascent identity for McInnes’s side, one defined by unbending physical commitment and lots and lots of sprinting. The quality of the football may have been patchy, but the commitment was enough to get the 51,212 home fans at the top of their voices and lay down a marker for the season.
With away fans banned from Old Firm fixtures this season after the pitch invasion that followed a Scottish Cup tie last term, the atmosphere was always likely to be partisan. Before the match there was a brisk trade on both Graeme Souness flags and boiled sweets. Inside the ground the Union Bears ultras unveiled a tifo showcasing the apparently resonant moment when Rangers’ Ian Ferguson grabbed Celtic’s Mike Galloway by the lapels during a clash in 1993. A deep cut of a banner, it did a good job of setting the tone for what was to follow.
McInnes’ men went about the match with an intensity that Celtic struggled to equal from the off, some of their players looking distinctly over-awed by the occasion. One such was the goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, whose hurried clearance should have led to a Rangers goal as early as the fourth minute only for Kelsy to send his shot wide from just six yards out. In the 15th minute Johnstone flapped at a corner and when Kim Min-Su drove the ball back at goal Liam Scales had to turn it behind for a corner. Seven minutes later, Rangers took the lead.
The passage of play began with Kasper Høgh trying to take down a long ball on the break, only to make the wrong decision as he tried to progress into the Rangers area. The home defence immediately turned play around and went long to the Celtic area where Cameron Carter-Vickers failed to properly clear the ball. Kelsy picked it up, slipped it to Neil. The skipper, signed on a free transfer from Sunderland in the summer, placed an excellent shot just inside Johnstone’s left-hand post.
O’Neill made a change at half-time, replacing the ineffectual forward Sebastian Tounekti with the Egypt international Haissem Hassan. The impact was neglible and Rangers began to take consistent control of the game. Kim had an effort from range turned behind in the 49th minute and was denied by a scrambling Johnstone less than 10 minutes later. A second goal appeared inevitable and it duly arrived when a James Penrice free-kick was flicked on by Ryan Naderi to the back post where Kelsy clipped his effort around the keeper and inside the left-hand post.
The goal was awarded after a lengthy VAR assessment of a possible offside. Rangers then had a third disallowed shortly after when Nicolas Raskin was adjudged offside. Neil then took matters into his own hands with a quarter of an hour remaining as he controlled a loose ball on the edge of the Celtic area and wrapped a shot into the top corner to unleash delirium in the Copland stand.
It was perhaps just as well for O’Neill that his supporters had been denied access to this match. Celtic began with a calmness that suggested confidence. Ultimately it was more likely to have reflected a timidity. The visitors were unable to get a foot on the ball at all in the second half, and the big-money signing Høgh looked lost at the tip of the Celtic attack before he was substituted on 65 minutes. McInnes’ Rangers could perhaps usefully deploy the spirit of Ian Ferguson again this season.
