Last Match

Scottish Premierleague
Saturday, August 8 2005
Ibrox Park(castle greyskull), Glasgow


RANGERS; 3
Prso 33, Buffel 46, Novo 87penalty
CELTIC; 1
Maloney 85penalty

RANGERS (4-4-2) Waterreus; Fanfan (Malcolm 71), Andrews, Rodriguez, Ball; Rae (Lovenkrands 46), Ferguson, Murray; Buffel, Novo, Prso.
Subs: Klos, Thompson, McLean, Adam, McCormack.
CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc; Telfer, Balde, McManus, Camara (Virgo, 86); Petrov, Nakamura (Maloney 52), Lennon, Thompson; Beattie, Hartson (Zurawski 66).
Subs: Marshall, Aliadiere, Wallace, Lawson.



GORDON Strachans Old Firm debut ended in defeat amid controversy at Ibrox on Saturday after a first half red card for Alan Thompson (nae need for it) handed Rangers a priceless advantage in this first derby of the season.

Three goals for the home side, by Dado Prso, Thomas Buffel and Nacho Novo, made the result conclusive at the end of the day, but this game was undoubtedly changed by referee Stuart Dougals rash decision to send off Thompson in the 22nd minute and it was a move that shall no doubt be heavily debated in the weeks ahead.

In the opening stages of the encounter Rangers enjoyed the majority of the possession and exerted the most pressure, but Celtic began to gradually come into the game, with John Hartson providing a willing target that at first did not in any way appear cowed by the soft sixth minute booking handed out by referee Stuart Dougal.

For all the to-ing and fro-ing neither side was creating clear cut opportunities and the game gradually becoming more heated with Dougal raising the fire of the players with several peculiar decisions early in the game.

Neither side had managed to gain a steady foothold until the referee sounded his whistle just after 20 minutes following a rash challenge by Thompson on Novo. The Celtic midfielder had certainly dived into the tackle, but the player was uninjured and returned to his feet after an immediate apology from the Celtic midfielder just in time to see Dougal (what a bastard) raise a straight red card.

The decision was a rash one by the referee but was in keeping with the tone he set early in this game and urged on by their supporters Rangers began to drive forward and Artur Boruc did well in the 26th minute to palm away a Novo shot after the striker got beyond the defence. Camara then swept away the loose ball and Celtic at first remained strong, countering well and with Petrov seeing a shot deflected wide of the target.

It was from this set piece that Nakamura found Balde unmarked around six yards out, but the centre half could only head the ball down, up off the turf and over Ronald Waterreuss crossbar.

This was to prove to be Celtics best chance of the game and then, in the 33rd minute, Rangers made good of their numerical superiority and went ahead through a spectacular Prso volley.

The ball was curled into the box from the space left by Thompson wide on Celtics left and it fell to the striker in space. With his back to goal he still had everything to do and showed great technique to swivel and drive the ball home beyond Boruc.

Minutes later Buffel almost met a Novo cut back on the edge of the six yard box, but Celtic continued to look dangerous on the counter, with Nakamura and Petrov doing the Lion's share of the running while Lennon sat in the holding role.

But it was Rangers who had the final shot before the half-time whistle sounded, with Ferguson screwing an effort wide of Borucs left hand post.

It took the home side until just four minutes after the restart to add to their lead after Buffel used pace and guile to squeeze between two challenges and chase down a through ball. With the referee waving play on and the Belgian having done well to maintain his balance, he was left with just Boruc to beat and side-footed the ball beyond the Celtic number one.

With the two-goal cushion came a growing confidence and Rangers began to pass the ball well, with the frontmen harrying Celtics back line and forcing errors, with one in particular by Balde allowing Peter Lovenkrands a free shot on goal which the substitute squandered.

Celtic meanwhile relied on honest endeavour in a bid to pull one back, but more often than not found themselves chasing play and running to fill the space left in the heart of the park.

Even the introduction of Shaun Maloney, so often a talismanic influence in recent games, failed to reinvigorate Celtics attack and in the 66th minute Strachan turned to Maciej Zurawski in a bid to claw back the deficit.

But again it was Rangers who came close, with Lovenkrands putting his first chance wide of the target and seeing a second shot blocked by a sliding challenge minutes later.

With 20 minutes still remaining the game already looked a forlorn prospect and it took a moment of rashness from Ian Murray in the 84th minute to hand Celtic a glimmer of hope, but just as that ray of light appeared it was cruelly snatched away.

The Rangers defender had felled Maloney in the box with a poor challenge and the young striker calmly slotted away the spot kick. Chasing the equaliser the manager brought on another debutant, the recovering Adam Virgo, to provide presence up front, but straight from kick off Rangers won a penalty and Novo scored to re-establish their two-goal lead.

The result in the end was conclusive, but when this game is remembered it will be hard not to reflect on the match-changing influence of Dougal and wonder how Celtic would have played had Thompson remained on the park.