Rangers 2 Celtic 1
00:00
Scottish Premier League
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
RANGERS v CELTIC
PRE-MATCH PRE-AMBLE: The big surprise of the day sees Tony Mowbray hand a starting place to new Bhoy, Zheng Zhi, who will take up a central role in a five-man midfield that includes Aiden McGeady, Scott Brown, Landry NGuemo and Shaun Maloney.
Lee Naylor has been recalled for his first game of the season, with Danny Fox out injured. Glenn Loovens and Stephen McManus are in the heart of defence, with Mark Wilson at right back.
Scott McDonald will play as the lone striker in attack, with Lukasz Zaluska, Gary Caldwell, Georgios Samaras, Marc Crosas, Paddy McCourt, James Forrest and Paul Caddis on the bench.
Fox, Andy Hinkel and Barry Robson are all out injured.
FULL TEAMLINES:
RANGERS (4-4-2) McGregor; Smith, Weir, Papac, Whittaker; Little, Davis, Mendes, Miller; Boyd, Naismith.
Subs: Alexander, Novo, Rothen, Lafferty, Fleck, Loy, Wilson.
CELTIC (4-5-1) Boruc; Wilson, Loovens, McManus, Naylor; McGeady, NGuemo, Zhi, Brown, Maloney; McDonald.
Subs: Zaluska, Caldwell, Samaras, Crosas, McCourt, Forrest, Caddis.
REFEREE: Craig Thomson
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Martin Cryans, Tom Murphy
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Steve Conroy
00:01
Match kicks off with Brown playing ball down the right wing for Zheng Zhi, Maloney is played in, McGregor collects his deflected cross.
00:02
Rangers counter attack, but Celtic take possession, until Maloney runs it out of play.
00:03
Wayward ball forward by McManus gifts Rangers possession. Whittaker then hits Mendes with his attempted clearance.
00:03
Ball breaks for Maloney at the back post, hits the first shot of the match, which is blocked by McGregor.
00:04
Naylor catches Naismith late. Free kick Rangers inside their own half.
00:05
NGuemo pinches ball from Davies 30 yards from his own goal, but puts too much on it, gifting Rangers the first corner of the game, taken by Smith, punched clear by Boruc.
00:05
Great ball by Zhi, picks out run into the box by McGeady. He's caught by the defender as he overhits the ball, kick out to Rangers.
00:08
GOAL RANGERS - Loovens fails to get the ball in a half hearted challenge on Boyd on the halfway line. He plays in Miller, who races into space behind the back four and, from the edge of the box, hits a low shot that trundles beneath Boruc. 1-0 Rangers.
00:10
Ball over the top for McDonald from Naylor. Drops just outside the six yard box, the striker can't control it. Kick out for McGregor.
00:11
Papac fouls McDonald 25 yards up the right flank. Naylor over the ball, nearly drops for ZZ, but is swept away by Papac.
00:12
Celtic denied what appeared to be a blatant penalty! McGeady plays in McDonald, he finds Maloney, who knocks the ball in front of Weir but is caught by the knee of the defender. Referee says no.
00:14
RANGERS SUB - Rangers make an early change, with Andrew Little lasting just 14 minutes before being subbed for Nacho Novo.
00:15
Maloney skins Whittaker, then Naismith and bursts into the box. Overhits the ball and then goes down as Weir approaches. Maloney is booked for diving.
00:16
GOAL RANGERS - Ball forward finds Miller on the edge of the box. Long ball forward from free kick, initially misses Boyd as he jumps. Lands at feet of Miller, who turns Loovens and then hits the ball into the bottom corner past Boruc. 2-0 Rangers.
00:21
Decent move forward by Celtic, involving McGeady, Wilson and Brown ends with Brown giving the ball to Weir on the edge of the Rangers box.
00:22
McDonald hits a shot on goal that goes well wide.
00:23
Another good shout for a penalty as ZZ is caught by Davies from the back. Nothing given.
00:25
PENALTY FOR CELTIC - Weir too slow, catches ZZ as he breaks away. McGHeady over the ball. SCORES!!! Hits it low into the corner, McGregor gets a hand to it, but it's not enough. Rangers 2 Celtic 1
00:27
Weir hoofs the ball away as Celtic pressure. Strong double challenge by Brown to win the ball.
00:29
Celtic growing in confidence. Mendes goes down easily as McManus wins the ball.
00:31
McDonald adjudged to have fouled Smith as both players challenge for the ball. Celtic continue to grow in confidence.
00:32
Davies lifts in a ball to the back post, easily taken by Boruc. Counter attack broken by a Whittaker challenge on Naylor.
00:33
Papac catches McGeady from the back, free kick Celtic 30 yards in front of goal. Naylor over it. Ball lifted in, Naismith concedes the corner.
00:34
Corner Celtic, Naylor takes, Naismith concedes another corner. Naylor again, with Celtic's second corner of the game, McDonald judged to be backing into McGregor, despite the keeper having both arms wrapped around the striker.
00:36
Terrible decision from the ref. Wilson clearly wins the ball as Novo goes down. Ref gives a foul 20 yards up the left touchline. Ball swung in by Naismith, Wilson concedes corner.
00:37
Corner by Naismith, headed away at near post by Brown.
00:39
Great run by ZZ, beats three men, holding off two challenges, threads in a ball for McDonald, which is cleared by the defender.
00:40
Excellent one two between ZZ and Naylor, left back is caught as he tries to get to the byline, but the referee waves away the appeals.
00:41
Boyd down in a lot of pain. Ran into NGuemo and needs treatment. Doctor and now a stretcher on the park. Striker clearly in agony.
00:43
Boyd suddenly recovers and is up, walking off the park. Rangers forced to make a sub, with Lafferty on. RANGERS SUB - off Boyd, Lafferty on.
00:45
One two between Maloney and McDonald, but McDonald loses possession as he tries to play in McGeady.
00:45
Dirty tackle by Novo on Wilson, shows his studs as Wilson clears the ball. Free kick for Celtic, but referee lets the foul pass without comment. Rotten tackle by the Rangers winger.
00:46
Referee adds on two minutes.
00:46
Boruc collects the ball as two deflected clearances bobble around.
00:47
HALF TIME WHISTLE SOUNDS - Rangers 2 Celtic 1
00:45
The teams are back out after the interval.
00:46
Rangers kick off.
00:46
Novo breaks down the left flank, but Loovens recovers, conceding a corner. Smith takes, Weir gets a head to it and sends it over.
00:48
Lafferty dives as McManus holds him off. Referee gives a foul, poor decision. Free kick down by the corner. Smith hits it off the wall, wins a corner. Boruc punches clear.
00:49
Mendes hacks down McGeady as he goes by him, yellow card for the Rangers midfielder.
00:49
Free kick from Maloney punched clear by McGregor.
00:51
McDonald does well to control a long ball forward from McManus, plays in ZZ. Referee gives another poor decision against Celtioc, signalling a foul on Whittaker.
00:53
Shocker of a foul by Weir on McDonald! Catches the Australian, studs up on the legs from behind. Again, no booking from the ref.
00:55
Celtic fail to win the ball on the edge of the box, allowing Miller to fire off a shot that zips wide of target.
00:55
McManus and Lafferty wrestle each other to the floor. Foul goes Rangers' way, Smith's set piece taken by Boruc.
00:56
Deflected cross from ZZ met in the air, on the turn, by McDonald. Shot collected by McGregor.
00:57
McGeady does well to take possession and play in Wilson, his cross is nearly met at the back post by Maloney.
00:59
Weir brings down McDonald with another challenge from the back, but no booking. Maloney takes the free kick. Retake ordered as McDonald is wrestled to the ground. Maloney this time plays it to Wilson, whose shot, under pressure, goes over.
00:61
Lafferty throws the ball away after appealing for a foul after he had gone down easily, looking for the foul. No censure from the ref.
00:62
CELTIC SUB - Samaras on for NGuemo. Celtic switch to 4-4-2.
00:63
Lafferty goes in, studs up on ZZ. Catches the midfielder on the ankle, but no booking.
00:64
Game getting scrappy. McDonald shrugs off Weir to win the ball, but Rangers clear.
00:65
Celtic sweep up the right, but Wilson overhits his cross after beating Novo.
00:65
Papac forced to clear as Maloney and McGregor go for a ball.
00:67
Wilson caught as he goes through on goal, but goes down late and is shown a yellow for a dive. Another poor decision from the official.
00:68
Davies shows his studs as he goes in on Brown. Foul for Celtic.
00:69
Naylor wins the ball from Miller in midfield. Wilson plays it to McGeady, he takes a shot from nearly 30 yards out that McGregor ccollects.
00:69
Another terrible tackle by Novo on whistle, catches him late, on the knee. Referee initially waves away the player, then decides to book him.
00:70
CELTIC SUB - Paddy McCourt on for Zheng Zhi.
00:73
Celtic pressure and win a corner, with McDonald and McCourt involved. Taken short to McGeady, who loses possession under pressure from Novo.
00:74
McGeady controls the ball and is then pulled down by Lafferty. No card, Celtic break, McCourt plays in Wilson with a great ball, he hits a low cross to Maloney, who fails to hit the target!
00:75
Brown flattens Novo and takes a yellow card.
00:77
CELTIC SUB - Paul Caddis on for Lee Naylor
00:78
Attendance: 50,276
00:79
Celtic win a corner, Maloney takes, Weir concedes another corner. Maloney fails to beat the first man and Smith clears.
00:80
Blatant handball by Nacho Novo, who attempts to punch a cross into the back of the net. Referee sees it, but fails to book him.
00:82
Loovens booked after going through Miller from the back.
00:83
Novo wins a corner off of Caddis. Mendes across to take. Lifted in high, Weir gets above McManus, Boruc collects.
00:84
McGeady dances by Lafferty's crude attempt to bring him down, but Rangers clear when the ball is played in to the edge of the area.
00:85
Great save from Boruc! Novo in behind the defence, attempts to chip the keeper, he gets a hand to it.
00:85
Corner taken by Mendes, Weir above McManus again, sends his header over!
00:86
McCourt attempts to thread the ball through for Maloney. The winger just fails to reach it.
00:87
McGeady chips a ball in to McDonald, who is offside.
00:89
Loovens overhits the ball and knocks it out of play as he tries to run out of defence.
00:90
Samaras handles the ball after Caddis finds him on the edge of the box.
00:90
Referee adds on three minutes.
00:91
McCourt tries to jink through, beats three men, but is stopped by a combination of two.
00:93
Caddis controls a McCourt pass beautifully. Samaras gives it away.
00:93
Referee misses a handball by Samaras as Celtic go on one last attack. Celtic then lose possession.
00:94
FINAL WHISTLE SOUNDS - Rangers 2 Celtic 1
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