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Celtic 3-0 Rangers

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic News' started by Murphy7, Nov 19, 2005.

By Murphy7 on Nov 19, 2005 at 8:38 PM
  1. Murphy7

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    Celtic strolled to an easy win over Rangers at Celtic Park this afternoon to heap more misery on manager Alex McLeish. The victory stretches the Bhoys lead over their old-firm rivals to a massive fifteen points despite never getting out of second gear. Rangers recent record is shocking - only two wins in twelve games and with difficult matches against FC Porto and Hibernian away to come in the following week, the end is near for McLeish.

    Gordon Strachan named the same side that had comfortably beaten Rangers only ten days earlier and his team got off to the best possible start with a goal after only twelve minutes. A careless ball by defender Alan Hutton gifted Shunsuke Nakamura possession of the ball and the Japanese star found Shaun Maloney in space. The Scottish international broke into the Rangers box and superbly found John Hartson for an easy finish. The goal set Celtic Park wild and immediately gave Rangers an uphill struggle to take anything from the game.

    Rangers almost hit back immediately on eighteen minutes. Hamed Namouchi's steered header just went the wrong side of the post after being picked out by Barry Ferguson's deep cross. And after Aiden McGeady gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position only minutes later, Kyrgiakos was unlucky as his fierce shot was superbly blocked by the ever-impressive Stephen McManus following Ferguson's cross.

    Artur Boruc came to Celtic's rescue on 32 minutes. The Polish no.1 who hadn't had a save to make up until this point did exceptionaly well to collect the ball at the Rangers captain's feet after he got inbehind the Celtic backline. A mis-placed pass by Rangers took the Celtic defence by suprise and allowed Ferguson to get the chance but Boruc did very well retain the lead for his side.

    As the half-time whistle was blowed, the Celtic fans were the far happier as their side had enjoyed alot of possession and despite not playing anywhere near as good as they can play, they warranted their one goal lead.

    Rangers came out for the second half very fired up as they had 45 minutes to save their SPL season. Three minutes into the half this aggression boiled over as Marvin Andrews put in a poor, late challenge from behind on Shaun Maloney. The Scotland international was stretchered off to the nasty cheers of the Rangers support but returned to the action after a few minutes of treatment on the sidelines. The far travelled Andrews saw a yellow card for his troubles.

    Celtic almost stretched their lead after 55 minutes after the best move of the game. A flowing move which included a great piece of individual skill by Nakamura almost lead to a goal but a well-timed challenge from Fernando Ricksen saved a certain goal.

    The Celtic faithful didn't have long to wait for a goal, a minute to be exact. Nakamura turned Ferguson inside out on the right wing. And after fantastically creating space for himself, he expertly picked out Balde who headed in the second and put the game beyond doubt.

    Celtic scored their third of the day on the hour mark. The Bulgarian captain Petrov found space for a cross and the energetic Aiden McGeady turned the ball home. It was not the cleanest of strikes from the Irish International and Wattereus who was picked ahead of Klos in the Rangers goal will be dissapointed that he didn't get a stronger hand on the ball to keep it out. At this point Celtic were threatening to run riot as the Rangers rear-guard was struggling to come to terms with the Celtic attack.

    Just when McLeish would have been thinking that things couldn't get any worse, they did. Influential striker Dado Prso pulled up clutching his hamstring and limped off. With a massive few weeks coming up for the Rangers manager, this was the last thing he would have wanted. Steven Thompson replaced the Croatia international to sarcastic cheers from some sections of the Celtic support.

    Celtic however were quite contempt to hold on to what they had as were able to see out the game at a canter. The only real chance created by Rangers in the final stages was a set-piece with only two minutes to go after Paul Telfer fouled the substitute Lovenkrands to give away a free-kick 25 yards from the Celtic goal. Ricksen's powerful shot was on target and, although Boruc fumbled slightly, he recovered well before the laclustre Rangers attack could pounce.

    Celtic were denied a penalty after strong appeals in the second minute of injury time. Hartson looked ready to pounce before being felled in the penalty box. The referee ignored a big roar from the crowd and denied Celtic a late chance to get a fourth. The final whistle was met with jubilant scenes from the home support and shouts of "Easy Easy" summed up the feeling by all inside the staduim.

    A key factor in the win was the fact Celtic's backline of Boruc, Camara, McManus, Balde and Telfer were starting their 17th consecutive match together. This gives Celtic the solid base for their recent success - eleven wins and one draw in their last twelve games. Rangers can count themselves lucky that the likes of Sutton, Beattie and Zurawski were unavailable for selection as the scoreline could have been even more embarrasing. It was an easy win in the end and one can only think about how many it could have been if Celtic had played anywhere near their potential. I think this will be the last time we see McLeish in a Rangers dugout at Celtic Park again.


    Man of the Match: Aiden McGeady

    Celtic (4-4-2)

    Boruc

    Telfer Balde McManus Camara

    Nakamura(Agathe 77) Petrov Lennon McGeady

    Hartson Maloney(Thompson 57)

    Subs Not Used: Marshall, Varga, Virgo, Lawson, Wallace


    Rangers (4-4-2)

    Wattereus

    Hutton(Lovenkrands 53) Kyrgiakos Andrews Murray

    Ricksen Ferguson Hemdani Namouchi

    Jeffers Prso(Thompson 64).

    Subs Not Used: Klos, Rae, Burke, McCormack


    Att:58,997