Rangers man.Rangers defend the delivery but concede a corner, from which Hatate strikes fiercely at goal … saved by Kelly! Rangers’ stand-in keeper is alert at his near post!Celtic will have a dangerous free-kick to the right of the box to end the half.Rangers seem content to play safe and get into the dressing room 1-0 up.Celtic, has been anonymous this half.Rangers break once more. Bajrami has the freedom of Ibrox as he drives through the middle of the pitch with options left and right. But the Albanian checks his run, waits for Diomande to make a late run and so nearly threads the perfect through pass! Only a heroic sliding tackle from Carter-Vickers saves Diomande having an easy chance.Rangers and McGregor is shown a yellow card for stopping a quick restart as Diomande attempts to switch the play. That’s a silly booking for Celtic’s captain, who now must play two thirds of an Old Firm derby on a yellow.Celtic, as they attempt to reset.Celtic in midfield. I would expect to see Engels on at half-time if this carries on.Rangers corner. Celtic clear the danger but seem content to survive at the moment.Celtic are finally settling down. They have had 60% possession but after a bright early couple of minutes have mostly pinged it around the centre backs and into McGregor in midfield. Maeda has been the bright spark on the left wing and after a good overlap from Taylor, the Japanese cuts in and shoots. It doesn’t trouble Kelly but there are signs of life for the Bhoys.Celtic man is not happy with himself of his team, effing and jeffing to himself as he trots back into position.Celtic go route-one and Kyogo so nearly gets clean through on goal but the forward just can’t reach the long diagonal pass.Celtic simply haven’t got to grips with the game. They are yet to string any meaningful passes together and are second to almost every 50/50.Rangers attack on the counter-attack and Cerny strides forward on the right. He cuts inside Carter-Vickers and unleashes a shot that loops onto the top of the Schmeichel’s bar and over! It took a little nick off Scales’ back, so will be a corner. Without that deflection, it may well have found the net.Rangers. And Jefte, at left back, has won his early battles against the dangerous Kuhn.Rangers fans call for a penalty but there’s nothing doing.Rangers were able to hack it clear.Rangers nervously get the ball behind for a corner.Butland was hospitalised with internal bleeding. Kelly joined the club aged 10 and spent nine years in Rangers’ academy but after a series of loans left the club permanently in 2018 without making a first-team appearance. After spells at Livingston, QPR and Motherwell, Kelly re-signed for his boyhood club in the summer and finally made his Rangers debut in last month’s win over Dundee. This derby, however, is a very different prospect.
Rangers fans died.
There was a memorial service outside Ibrox earlier this afternoon, which Rangers manager Philippe Clement attended.
Rangers fans need reminding. For the neutral at least, a shame that Aberdeen’s early-season form has fallen away.
Celtic are 14 points clear at the top, impressing in the Champions League, have a proven manager, a vastly superior budget to anyone else in Scotland and have conceded just four goals in 18 league matches this season (scoring 52).
Rangers are on their worst run of the season, winning just one (a 1-0 home win over Dundee) of their past five fixtures in all competitions. The truth has always been thus: Rangers must aim to win every domestic game, and they have been a long way off that this season. There is little time to ‘build a project’ or ‘blood promising youngsters’. Manager Philippe Clement is increasingly under pressure, perhaps unfairly given the circumstances.
To make matters worse, Rangers and Clement have an injury crisis, with captain James Tavernier, Tom Lawrence, Neraysho Kasanwirjo and John Souttar all sidelined. In one of the more bizarre injuries of the season, goalkeeper Jack Butland spent Tuesday night in hospital after what he has described as “significant” internal bleeding in a leg. He is stable and recovering at home but won’t play today. Centre-back Leon Balogun is a doubt but may be available after taking a knock in the 2-2 draw at Motherwell.
Still, the sun is shining in Glasgow. This fixture is normally a midday kick-off, but many of the 50,000 Rangers fans will be well lubricated and ready to cheer their heroes towards an unlikely win. There might not be much to play in relation to the league table, but the Old Firm has always been much, much more than that. It’s on!
Kick-off: 3pm GMT.
Source: theguardian.com
