Post by Amadeus on Nov 22, 2004 19:13:21 GMT
Rangers emerged victorious from the Ibrox battleground after first-half goals from Nacho Novo and Dado Prso decided a brutal and controversial Old Firm derby which ended 2-0.
Celtic ended the game with nine men following red cards for Alan Thompson and then Chris Sutton on a day when any number of other players could have also gone.
It was Rangers manager Alex McLeish's second Old Firm victory in 10 days - more importantly it narrowed Celtic's lead at the top to just a point.
Celtic striker Henri Camara had hit the bar from point-blank range in the sixth minute although John Hartson had jumped unfairly with Gregory Vignal and the Hoops were in control until their defence pressed the self-destruct button in the 15th minute.
Bobo Balde was under no pressure as Zura Khizanishvili floated a ball from the right away from any colleague but he succeeded in heading only as far as Hamed Namouchi on the edge of the box. The midfielder quickly sent it back into the box where Joos Valgaeren's challenge on Novo was ill-timed and a spot-kick was the inevitable result.
Novo took it himself and despatched it past Magnus Hedman. The Spaniard was only on the field because the red card he had picked up for kicking at Hibernian's Craig Rocastle last week had been downgraded to yellow on appeal. However he was involved in a similar incident within minutes of the start of this game, with Jackie McNamara the player involved, and so could find himself in trouble again, especially as the cameras which cleared him appeared also to capture a second-half incident when his left boot landed on the head of Celtic substitute Stephen Pearson.
The same applied to Bob Malcolm, who had been dropped to the bench so Alex Rae could play. He was escorted up the tunnel by police, presumably for a warning after an inflammatory gesture to the away end.
Exactly how Camara stayed on the pitch is a mystery as the Senegalese star was booked for raising his hands to former Wolves team-mate Rae and then in first-half stoppage time clearly kicked Vignal after the Frenchman had fouled him. By that time Rangers were 2-0 up and Celtic a man down with Prso having headed home a Fernando Ricksen free-kick in the 35th minute after Sutton had been booked for fouling Rae.
Within three minutes of that goal all 11 players and three officials were involved in a melee sparked by Lovenkrands' foul on McNamara. Thompson confronted the Dane and pushed his face aggressively into his opponent's, although whether it was the full-blooded head-butt Lovenkrands made it seem with his fall to the turf was debatable.
Referee Clark showed Thompson the red card to add to his dismissal on this ground in 2000 when Rangers won 5-1 to avenge a previous 6-2 thrashing. In the 56th minute Celtic were reduced to nine men when Sutton was shown a second yellow card after using a hand twice in the space of a few seconds.
From Football365
Nice one Ragers, maybe there'll be a contest for the SPL this year
Celtic ended the game with nine men following red cards for Alan Thompson and then Chris Sutton on a day when any number of other players could have also gone.
It was Rangers manager Alex McLeish's second Old Firm victory in 10 days - more importantly it narrowed Celtic's lead at the top to just a point.
Celtic striker Henri Camara had hit the bar from point-blank range in the sixth minute although John Hartson had jumped unfairly with Gregory Vignal and the Hoops were in control until their defence pressed the self-destruct button in the 15th minute.
Bobo Balde was under no pressure as Zura Khizanishvili floated a ball from the right away from any colleague but he succeeded in heading only as far as Hamed Namouchi on the edge of the box. The midfielder quickly sent it back into the box where Joos Valgaeren's challenge on Novo was ill-timed and a spot-kick was the inevitable result.
Novo took it himself and despatched it past Magnus Hedman. The Spaniard was only on the field because the red card he had picked up for kicking at Hibernian's Craig Rocastle last week had been downgraded to yellow on appeal. However he was involved in a similar incident within minutes of the start of this game, with Jackie McNamara the player involved, and so could find himself in trouble again, especially as the cameras which cleared him appeared also to capture a second-half incident when his left boot landed on the head of Celtic substitute Stephen Pearson.
The same applied to Bob Malcolm, who had been dropped to the bench so Alex Rae could play. He was escorted up the tunnel by police, presumably for a warning after an inflammatory gesture to the away end.
Exactly how Camara stayed on the pitch is a mystery as the Senegalese star was booked for raising his hands to former Wolves team-mate Rae and then in first-half stoppage time clearly kicked Vignal after the Frenchman had fouled him. By that time Rangers were 2-0 up and Celtic a man down with Prso having headed home a Fernando Ricksen free-kick in the 35th minute after Sutton had been booked for fouling Rae.
Within three minutes of that goal all 11 players and three officials were involved in a melee sparked by Lovenkrands' foul on McNamara. Thompson confronted the Dane and pushed his face aggressively into his opponent's, although whether it was the full-blooded head-butt Lovenkrands made it seem with his fall to the turf was debatable.
Referee Clark showed Thompson the red card to add to his dismissal on this ground in 2000 when Rangers won 5-1 to avenge a previous 6-2 thrashing. In the 56th minute Celtic were reduced to nine men when Sutton was shown a second yellow card after using a hand twice in the space of a few seconds.
From Football365
Nice one Ragers, maybe there'll be a contest for the SPL this year
