Rangers V Celtic

[Jockstar]

I say 3-1 to Rangers. Fingers crossed. I dont care if i'm right or wrong as long as we win.

[Jockstar]

Ok i was wrong. It was 2-0. Read it and weep. Bring on the treble.

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Rangers 2-0 Celtic: FT Report

PA

Rangers emerged 2-0 winners from the Ibrox battleground after first-half goals from Nacho Novo and Dado Prso decided a brutal and controversial Old Firm derby.

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.

# Post-match reaction

It was Rangers manager Alex McLeish's second Old Firm victory in 10 days, with the first having ended a seven-derby losing streak.

More importantly it narrowed Celtic's lead at the top to just a point to set up a battle royal in the coming months with a repeat of the last-day dead heat of two years ago now a possibility.

Rangers triumphed on goal difference then and Hoops manager Martin O'Neill showed he was up for the forthcoming fight by putting an arm round Neil Lennon, the man Rangers fans like to abuse most, on the final whistle and presenting him as if in triumph to the Hoops fans behind one goal.

It was the final incident of a day which had been packed with them, with the controversial incidents out-numbering those of quality football.

Celtic striker Henri Camara 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, who had been preferred in goal to David Marshall.

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 on Friday 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 the 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.

Lovenkrands was booked for the foul and Rae and Lennon for their part in the recriminations which followed.

Rae had been brought to Ibrox to add fire to the side in the same way Lennon does for Celtic, but his loss of temper was apparent when Rangers captain Stefan Klos tried to restrain him from confronting Celtic men on the way to the tunnel.

Camara did not reappear at the restart, with Pearson replacing him and Sutton moving to midfield.

Lovenkrands was also ordered to stay behind, with Shota Arveladze - the substitute hero of his side's extra-time success against the Hoops in the CIS Insurance Cup 10 days ago - coming on.

Hedman pawed over a Prso shot from point-blank range and the Croat was on the end of the corner before Celtic scrambled the ball away.

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 to add an extra twist to an already astonishing spectacle.

Michael Ball replaced the hobbling Vignal just before the hour mark and Klos was required to make his first meaningful save in the 64th minute to deny Stilian Petrov from finishing off a fine passing move by the nine men.

Khizanishvili was booked for a foul on McNamara and then replaced by Malcolm, with the game much calmer now. Celtic's only aim was to avoid further damage and they managed to achieve that with aplomb.

Celtic sent teenager Aiden McGeady on for Petrov with 11 minutes remaining but ended up failing to score in a derby for the first time since Martin O'Neill took charge in the summer of 2000.

Namouchi should have made it 3-0 late on but fired wide to waste a fine move which had been begun by Rae winning two tackles and also involved Arveladze and Novo.

# Post-match reaction

Rangers manager Alex McLeish has revealed he withdrew Peter Lovenkrands at half-time during the 2-0 win over Celtic after the player got a kick 'as he came off' the field at Ibrox.

McLeish told Setanta: 'We took Peter off to calm down and he got a kick coming off the pitch. We decided it was a dead leg and we have got a European game to think about with quality players on the bench.'

But McLeish insisted he knew little about an incident involving Gers' substitute Bob Malcolm on the award of the 15th-minute penalty from which Novo opened the scoring.

The Ibrox midfielder was spoken to by the police after allegedly making a gesture.

McLeish added: 'I really don't know. There was a fracas and, again, a mountain out of a molehill. You would need to ask the police to clarify it.'

But Celtic manager Martin O'Neill was left furious after the defeat.

The Parkhead boss marched midfielder Neil Lennon towards the Celtic fans at the end of the game in an act of defiance against the abuse aimed at the player.

The former Northern Ireland captain was forced to quit the international in 2002 after a death threat.

And Lennon is a regular target for fans across Scotland but, on this occasion, O'Neill was sufficiently annoyed by the comments that he publicly showed his support for the midfielder.

O'Neill told BBC Scotland: 'Neil Lennon comes here to Ibrox and gets dog's abuse. Every single time. I get it myself so it doesn't make any difference. So I might join the anti-racist band.

'Neil took dog's abuse from the crowd. But he is very popular with the Celtic fans because of what he has done on the field. When you are away from home, you cannot prevent any particular fan starting to chant.

'Our fans got behind him and I was delighted with that. So I took him up there to show, whatever happens, the Celtic fans care about him.'

But O`Neill was similarly furious about the decisions of referee Kenny Clark who dismissed Thompson and Sutton.

The Celtic boss added: 'I thought some of the decisions made today were bordering on the woeful to be perfectly honest. I think Lovenkrands should have a look at himself. Henri (Camara) was a cardable offence when he retaliated with his foot.'

But O'Neill was particularly incensed by an incident involving Hoops' substitute Stephen Pearson and Nacho Novo.

The Rangers striker had only been freed to play by the SFA appeals committee after his dismissal at Hibernian for kicking out at Craig Rocastle.

But television cameras caught the Spaniard kicking out again at Jackie McNamara and appearing to stamp on Pearson's head at Ibrox.

O'Neill added: 'The incident with Stephen Pearson and Novo is absolutely terrible. Perhaps now, something will be done about these things. They have been caught on camera which is good news. We had trial by TV last week, which I agreed with.

'But that incident with Pearson was terrible - no doubt about that. But the effort put in by the players was magnificent. I don't think Lovenkrands will be very proud of himself, to be honest.

'If you actually tell me Alan Thompson has head-butted him, I'm sorry, he hasn't done it.

'So, if their appeals are going left, right and centre, we can have a look at these.'

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[fw1]

My prediction is that, like every Scottish team that has ever played football, they will be shit on the day.

[Jockstar]

Eh!

[bluebear]

My prediction is that, like every Scottish team that has ever played football, they will be shit on the day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There speaks a man who team is 38th in the ithmian league south division 4.

[bluebear]

Ok i was wrong. It was 2-0. Read it and weep. Bring on the treble.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did you see the game? I didnt see anywhere advertising it on Friday night so just ended up in the Exchange.

[bluebear]

Ok i was wrong. It was 2-0. Read it and weep. Bring on the treble.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I looked at the schedule in both the UBC monthly guide and online and neither of them mentioned the game on - and neither did the Bangkok Posts Sport on tv section.

And the 2pm Saturday replay thats shown in the ubc guide doesnt happen. ( Or at least it didnt happen on Saturday )

Tommorow schedule isnt up on the web site either.

They need to get their act together. I really dont see why they cant put on repeat on at a time when its possible to see it - 2,4,7,9 am is no bloody good if you are working or cant get the channel at home and are relying on bars.

Heres a picture of Thomson graciously accepting his red card from the referee and apologising to his oponent for headbutting him, NOT!

[JimmyGreaves]

That was a glascow kiss

[Jockstar]

Ok i was wrong. It was 2-0. Read it and weep. Bring on the treble.

I looked at the schedule in both the UBC monthly guide and online and neither of them mentioned the game on - and neither did the Bangkok Posts Sport on tv section.

And the 2pm Saturday replay thats shown in the ubc guide doesnt happen. ( Or at least it didnt happen on Saturday )

Tommorow schedule isnt up on the web site either.

They need to get their act together. I really dont see why they cant put on repeat on at a time when its possible to see it - 2,4,7,9 am is no bloody good if you are working or cant get the channel at home and are relying on bars.

Heres a picture of Thomson graciously accepting his red card from the referee and apologising to his oponent for headbutting him, NOT!

Hey bluebear. I did see the game. Missed the first 25 minutes though. Was going over to a friends house for a food and drinks. Just happened to mention it to the gf that the game was on. She said that our friend had UBC. Yes! Channel 29 . Its either called goal tv or zoccer. So for future games. Check this channel. Maybe the Scottish pub on soi 23 will show the games. I would imagine. I live in an apartment but only have ESPN for the football. Might be worth getting UBC just for the SPL.

[bluebear]

The channel is Zoccer.

But got to see the game yesterday as I swapped a few things round to specially see it. Its maybe just as well I didnt watch it live, I would have crapped myself.

Gave away far too much posession too easily. Still dont believe Lennon and Camara managed to stay on. A bit OTT in the Lovencrands reaction but the intent was there and thats all thats needed.

The live game this weekend I think is Dundee v Celtic on Sunday night.. At least thats what the caption on the Setana feed was.