Old Firm number 454 delivered exactly the kind of tense, feisty, low-scoring drama this fixture has become known for, as Rangers held off a spirited but toothless Celtic to claim a 1-0 win at Celtic Park — their second victory over their fiercest rivals inside a single week. Here’s a full account of how the afternoon unfolded, from the build-up through to the final whistle and
Kick-off was at 12pm BST, with both sides arriving in starkly contrasting form. Celtic had gone into the weekend having won all six of their opening Premiership fixtures, but that perfect domestic record sat awkwardly alongside back-to-back defeats in cup and European competition — a 3-0 loss to these same opponents in last weekend’s League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, followed by a 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros in Celtic’s opening Europa League league-phase match on the Thursday before this game. Rangers, by contrast, arrived full of confidence, unbeaten across a run of results that had transformed the mood around Ibrox after a difficult start to Derek McInnes’s tenure as manager, one that had included failing to win either of his opening two league matches and suffering early European exits against Jagiellonia Białystok and, on penalties, Jablonec.
Martin O’Neill’s selection immediately raised eyebrows among Celtic’s own supporters. The confirmed lineup — Sinisalo; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor (c), Baur, McCowan; Nygren; Duran — was notable chiefly for what it lacked: any recognisable wide, out-and-out attacking width. One prominent Celtic fan blog described it bluntly as a “shut up shop” lineup, with a fellow supporter responding sardonically that Celtic appeared to be going into an Old Firm derby with “no wingers and a prayer.” Whether that framing was fair or not, it captured a genuine unease among the home support about how their side intended to break down a well-organised Rangers defence that had conceded just once in its previous four matches heading into the game.
O’Neill’s absentee list compounded that sense of limited attacking options. Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand and Jota were all ruled out through injury, while Yang Hyun-jun remained unavailable, still on international duty representing South Korea at the Asian Games — a reminder of how squad depth across a long season can be affected by call-ups that have nothing to do with club form. Rangers, meanwhile, named a lineup built around continuity from the previous weekend’s emphatic cup win, with Ryan Naderi passing a late fitness test to start despite the ankle injury sustained in that earlier meeting, and Kevin Kelsy again leading the line.
One further pre-match moment set an unusual tone for what would become an increasingly tetchy afternoon: former Celtic winger Daizen Maeda, now playing his football elsewhere, received a warm standing ovation from the home support on his return to Parkhead — a rare display of pure sentiment in a fixture that would, within the hour, be characterised by considerably sharper edges.
The opening period was cagey and tightly contested, with possession fairly evenly shared but Rangers edging the territorial battle in the game’s first quarter-hour. Celtic looked their most threatening on the counter-attack, repeatedly finding Camilo Duran in space and watching him cause early problems for a Rangers backline still settling into its rhythm. That early promise came at a cost for Rangers, with Emmanuel Fernandez shown a yellow card inside the opening ten minutes for hauling down Duran in a clear one-on-one situation — an early booking that put the young centre-back on notice for the remainder of the afternoon, given how easily a second caution could have followed in a match of this intensity.
Celtic thought they’d made that early pressure count on the quarter-hour mark. From an attacking free-kick, Liam Scales rose to knock a header down into a dangerous area, and Auston Trusty reacted first, smashing the ball home to send the home end into what briefly looked like it would be a decisive early celebration. The goal was ultimately ruled out, however, following a video review that showed Scales had strayed into an offside position in the buildup — a marginal call, but one the officials were confident enough in to chalk off what would otherwise have been the opening goal of the game.
The disallowed goal seemed to inject an extra edge into an afternoon that was already carrying significant needle from the week’s earlier controversy — Rangers’ formal complaint to the SFA over the challenge from Celtic’s Mika Baur that had left Ryan Naderi’s ankle “a mess” in the previous meeting. As the first half wore on, that tension boiled over more visibly. Referee John Beaton was forced to intervene in a heated passage of play involving both technical areas, ultimately showing yellow cards to figures in each dugout — Derek McInnes among those cautioned for his touchline conduct, alongside a member of Celtic’s own coaching staff. It made for a genuinely frantic passage of play, with the game’s intensity spilling over from the pitch to the sidelines well before half-time had even been reached
Amid all that tension, Rangers found the moment of quality that would ultimately decide the contest. On 33 minutes, Kim Min-su drove at Celtic’s defence and let fly with a shot from distance, one that goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo could only parry back into the danger area rather than clear to safety. Ryan Naderi was the man alert enough to capitalise, reacting first to the loose ball and turning it home from close range to give Rangers the lead. It was a goal built as much on Celtic’s defensive uncertainty as Rangers’ attacking quality — pundits watching the game would later be sharply critical of Sinisalo’s role in allowing the rebound to fall so kindly for the visitors — but for Rangers, the source of the goal mattered far less than the outcome. They led at Celtic Park, in the first league Old Firm meeting of the season, and would not relinquish that advantage for the remainder of the afternoon.
Celtic’s response in the remaining minutes of the first half was muted. Whatever spark Duran had provided in the game’s opening exchanges faded as Rangers grew increasingly comfortable managing the game’s tempo, and the half-time whistle arrived with Rangers deservedly ahead and Celtic’s much-discussed lack of attacking width already looking like a significant liability.
If anything, the second half saw Rangers grow further into their ascendancy rather than sit back and protect a slender lead. Early in the half, a well-worked move saw Naderi pick out Badredine Bouanani inside the box, and the winger’s first-time effort forced Sinisalo into a smart, comfortable save — a warning shot that Rangers had every intention of pushing for a second goal to settle the game beyond doubt.
That chance was followed by an even more dangerous moment midway through the half. Nicolas Raskin, showing the kind of composure and quality that had already been credited with helping Rangers dominate Celtic’s central midfield in the previous week’s cup tie, drove forward down the left flank and delivered a dangerous, whipped cross into the box. Naderi arrived at the near post but couldn’t quite direct his effort on target, the ball drifting agonisingly wide of the far post and giving the home crowd a brief, nervous scare rather than a genuine let-off.
Celtic, for their part, continued to struggle to create any meaningful response. Camilo Duran, so promising in the opening exchanges, found himself increasingly starved of service as the Rangers midfield asserted control, and the home side’s much-criticised lack of natural width in the starting lineup became more and more apparent as the second half progressed. By full time, Celtic had managed only two shots on goal across the entire ninety minutes — a startlingly low return for a side that had entered the match unbeaten domestically all season, and a clear illustration of how comprehensively Rangers had shut down their attacking outlets.
With the game moving into its closing stages and Rangers looking increasingly comfortable, both managers turned to their benches. O’Neill introduced Shumaira Mheuka in place of Liam Scales, searching for some fresh energy and a potential spark that might disrupt Rangers’ defensive shape, but the change did little to alter the pattern of the game. McInnes, by contrast, made his substitutions with a clear eye toward managing the game out rather than seeking further goals: Tochi Chukwuani replaced the influential Dan Neil, and Cameron Devlin came on for Kevin Kelsy in the 89th minute, adding fresh legs to help see out the remaining minutes without unnecessary risk.
Referee John Beaton’s final whistle confirmed what had looked likely from shortly after Naderi’s 33rd-minute strike: a 1-0 win for Rangers, their second victory over Celtic within the space of just seven days, following last weekend’s considerably more emphatic 3-0 triumph in the League Cup at Ibrox. Across those two meetings combined, Celtic had managed only a handful of clear-cut chances and had been thoroughly outplayed for long stretches of both fixtures — a striking turnaround given how dominant Celtic’s domestic form had looked heading into this particular week
The result leaves Rangers second in the Premiership table but now just two points behind Celtic at the top, having closed what could have been a considerably larger gap through a run of results that has completely reshaped the narrative around McInnes’s start to the season. It also means McInnes has now won both of his first two Old Firm derbies in charge of Rangers — a feat matched by only one other manager in the club’s history, Graeme Souness, back in 1986.
For Celtic and Martin O’Neill, the picture is altogether bleaker. This was Celtic’s first Premiership defeat of the campaign, snapping a run that had stretched to 13 consecutive league wins, their longest such streak heading into a league Old Firm derby since March 2017. It also represented Celtic’s third poor result inside a single week, following the cup exit to Rangers and the Europa League defeat to Ferencvaros, and will only intensify the scrutiny already building around O’Neill’s tactical approach — scrutiny that had already prompted pointed criticism from fan-shareholder group Celtic Supporters Ltd and former Celtic striker Chris Sutton over the club’s summer transfer business in the days leading up to this fixture.
Sunday’s match represented the 454th official meeting between these two clubs across all major competitions, a rivalry dating back to a first friendly meeting in 1888. Remarkably, given more than a century of subsequent history, the overall head-to-head record between Celtic and Rangers has remained almost perfectly balanced across that entire span, with barely a handful of results separating the two clubs’ win totals — a statistical symmetry that speaks to just how evenly matched these two institutions have remained across generations of Scottish football, regardless of which side has held the upper hand in any particular era or, indeed, any particular week.
The Scottish Premiership now pauses for a three-week international break, giving both camps time to reflect on a genuinely pivotal week in the destination of this season’s title race. Rangers head into that break with real belief, buoyed by back-to-back Old Firm wins, a settled and increasingly confident squad, and a manager who has quietly matched one of the most storied managerial achievements in the club’s modern history. Celtic, by contrast, face three weeks of mounting questions — over their lack of attacking width, their vulnerable goalkeeping situation, and the broader structural concerns already being raised about recruitment and squad depth — with no fixture to immediately put things right.
When domestic football resumes, both sides will know exactly where they stand: Rangers just two points off top spot with genuine momentum behind them, and Celtic still nominally leading the table but with their early-season aura of invincibility now visibly dented by the most difficult week of Martin O’Neill’s time in interim charge so far.
