Joe Ledley scored the only goal of the game that saw Celtic leapfrog Rangers at the top of the SPL. Celtic dominated throughout but it was a game full of controversial incidents. Lee Wallace appeared to have opened the scoring for Rangers but Fraser Forster scooped the ball out of the net. In the second half Gary Hooper was sent clean through by Georgios Samaras but was incorrectly flagged for offside.
Referee Willie Collum declined to show a red card to Lee McCulloch, David Healy and Kyle Lafferty despite plenty of provocation but Rangers never looked like forcing an equaliser once they went behind.
Celtic had the ball in the net early on when Rangers’ keeper, Allan McGregor spilled the first of two Gary Hooper shots he failed to keep hold off. Georgios Samaras was on-hand to clip the ball over the keeper but was flagged for offside. Despite Celtic enjoying the majority of possession Rangers had the best two chances of the first half. Wallace’s header which Forster’s alertness kept from hitting the net and then Carlos Bocanegra had a gilt-edged chance from six yards out but made a clumsy connection with his knee and sent the ball over.
Sone Aluko caused Celtic some problems early on when playing wide right but with Celtic dominating central midfield Ally McCoist pulled Aluko into the middle, which didn’t prevent Beram Kayal and Victor Wanyama from controlling midfield but blunted Rangers attacking options.
The gales which blew through Glasgow today faded as the game wore on but they were still strong throughout the first half with Celtic playing into the wind. On a couple of occasions Fraser Forster’s clearances didn’t reach the halfway line, in contrast to the second half, when his clearances repeatedly ran through to McGregor in the opposite goal. As a result, half time was a welcome break for Celtic.
The second half was five minutes old when Charlie Mulgrew got his first opportunity to send in a wind-assisted in-swinging corner. There is something curious about a 6’3” central defender taking corner kicks instead of trying to get on the end of them but Mulgrew’s delivery provided evidence as to why this is.
The corner was fast and direct but dipped five yards from goal at the far post. Four players jumped for the ball but Joe Ledley picked the flight of the ball out of the blustery confusion. All the ball needed was the faintest touch to send it bulleting high into the net.
Adam Matthews dominated the right side of the field. His pace allowed him to recover to inhibit any attack down the Rangers left while his control and passing pegged Rangers back throughout. Rangers played Nikica Jelavic on Thomas Rogne, who was hooked when the pair met at Hampden in March, but the 21-year-old Norwegian was never in trouble this evening. Jelavic was a sorry looking shadow of a football player who is flattered by reported interest in him.
Beram Kayal was taken out of the game by Lee McCulloch, who was red carded on his last appearance against St Mirren, but with Kayal on the deck McCulloch hung a limp ankle in the air while writhing in pain. It looked like a break for the Rangers player but he got up after referee Collum decided against showing a red card.
The league’s poorest player, David Healy, made a late cameo and should have been shown a straight red card for a dangerous lunge at James Forrest. Fellow Irishman, Kyle Lafferty, was also lucky to escape a red when he took Adam Matthews out of the game as Rangers lost their discipline late on.
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Watching the game again now.
McGregor isn’t the keeper that even dome of us have built him up to be.
SwanseaBhoy
Hampden in the Sun (Celtic 7 – Rangers 1) Seven past Niven
dome = some.
Typing and posting with my eyes on the telly. D’oh.
SwanseaBhoy
Morning SwanseaBhoy
Hope all is well in your house.
On McGregor, he is very, very good at kicking people after the whistle has gone.
Forgot about the abrupt end the ref brought to first half as Big Sammi was galloping into freedom.
SwanseaBhoy
Only two sore points the possible injury to Kayal and section 109 becoming an unofficial standing section for the whole game. Alright for me but the old bloke with the arthritic knees in front of me was in agony.
According the the BBC stats Rangers committed 22 fouls last night, twice as many as Celtic. A somewhat dramatic slid in their discipline from the game where they committed only 1 foul throughout the whole 90 minutes.
Billy’s Bhoy says:
29 December, 2011 at 09:37
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Your words are music to my ears M8!
Hopefully your right and, the omens are with us!
Hail! Hail!
Off oot.
Laters.
Swanseabhoy
I believe you promised us all a few gems from ff last night but were defeated by technology.
If you could nip on today and retrieve some of the better ones then we might forgive you ;)
A very bright and sunny morning here in North Ayrshire.
The weather’s awful, though.
Well done to the Bhoys.
And that ball was not over the line.
Just been skimming last nights comments while watching game again. Coolest man at Celtic park last night ? Mr Neil Lennon.
As much as I want this league for me, for my son, heck for all of us, I mostly want it for Neil. I for one will never forget what he has endured since his time in Scotland, especially this year.
Those arseholes go on about dignity, Neil has it in abundance.
Tremendous to see their game based on thuggery and hate fail miserably.
Have a great day.
Have a hood day.h
Celtic_First
Mrs SB back to work for 2 days so got the freedom of the house and have even been left in full charge of the remote control.
Aye, everything’s fine, although it’s amazing the commotion a sick dug can cause.
Anyhoo, are you no meant to be up a hill somewhere?
Hearing the singing from the Club was the cherry on the cake last night by the way.
SwanseaBhoy
Ach phones are troublesome.
lucky number 7
Let me see what I can do. Editing their posts to make them CQN acceptable takes the time!
:0)
SwanseaBhoy
Green Brigade last night
Just brilliant.
Lubo.
Just read back on the nightshift posts.
Some posters saying the huns were poor last night.
Big Jock used to say you can only play as well as the opposition let you.
And we, for the most part, did not allow the huns to play.
Two big plusses for me last night were –
1) We scored with a header…….
2)……..and it was from a corner.
We are so obviously improving in all areas!
What’s not to like?
Sone Aluko has only been to Celtic Park twice, and his goal difference is minus 10.
luckynumber7
Staright on there and there is a link to a David Leggat blog (Ledley’s just scored on my telly by the way :0) ).
Interesting thing about this is it shines a light on them more than they think. we still haven’t got a level playing field and they think the SFA are biased in our favour.
They are utterly bizarre creatures.
“Thursday, 29 December 2011
CELTIC CONSPIRACY CAMPAIGN WORKS AGAIN
ALL of Celtic’s moaning, all their backroom politicking and their refusal to accept any refereeing decision against them as fair, has paid off. Big time! Officials are now running scared of Celtic
Referees and their assistants will now never give a borderline decision against Celtic. Or at least is certainly seems to be that way after another appalling decision went against Rangers.
Linesman George Drummond was the man who may just have changed the way the Old Firm match played itself out when he refused to signal that Lee Wallace’s effort had crossed the line for a goal for Rangers.
However, that would surely have come as no surprise to those who read what I forecast was likely to happen in the Old Firm match if there were any borderline decisions. Celtic would always get the benefit of the doubt and Rangers always suffer.
I was only wrong in pinpointing referee Willie Collum as the man who was going to have to make those calls, with all the pressure of perception being heaped on officials by Stewart Regan’s Scottish Football Association, for it turned out to be his assistant, Drummond who was put on the spot and appeared to many to have caved in.
Needless to say Ibrox manager Alistair McCoist’s reaction was a model of restraint when commenting on how his team were denied a perfectly good and legitimate goal.
But just imagine the howls of horror which would have wailed from inside Parkhead had the incident happened at the other end of the pitch. It is hard to believe that the phone lines to radio stations would not have gone into meltdown with Celtic supporter after Celtic supporter bemoaning that there is a conspiracy against their club.
The internet would have become swamped with vile and bigoted accusations of Orange and Masonic conspiracies.
Maybe the official Celtic Supporters Association would even have hired a private detective to try and dig some pro Rangers dirt on the official. After all, they’ve done that before.
As to whatever conversations would possibly have taken place around the Scottish Football Association boardroom table when Celtic chief executive and SFA director, Peter Lawwell, joined his pal, SFA chief executive, Stewart Lawwell?
As Francis Urquhart was wont to say….I could not possibly comment.
But it didn’t happen that way. It happened to the detriment of Rangers, just as it has been happening to the champions in a series of controversial incidents this season. There has been a sea change which has people questioning the old belief that decisions even themselves out over a season.
And that sea change has taken place since autumn 2010, as the Scottish Football Association has been turned upside down and inside out ,creating a perception that Scottish football’s governing body is more concerned with conforming to Celtic’s wishes, thus putting pressure on referees, than anything else.
If Regan and Lawwell’s SFA wish to make a start in changing the way many view them, then Celtic’s Charlie Mulgrew’s clear dive, which conned ref Collum into awarding a free kick, should be viewed by Vincent Lunny, with lawyer Lunny then offering the Celtic player a two match ban.
Or does this new scrutiny of simulation by lawyer Lunny only apply to incidents inside the penalty area? And Rangers players?
And maybe there should be more whining and moaning and politicking from Rangers. Starting with calling in m’learned friends over a dreadful slur on manager McCoist.
What this space….
TOMORROW!!!!!”
First chance to post after being at the game as came home and watched the full 90 mins again until 2am this morning and knew if I came on here it would be an all-nighter!
So happy for Neil, the players and all the fans.
It wasn’t a classic but as always it made for compulsive viewing.
I thought we comfortably played out the second half after scoring. The huns were a very poor side – as the late James Sanderson would have said, “full of perspiration but no inspiration”.
We had some great performers all over the park but I thought Brown was particularly outstanding and a big shout out to Mulgrew and Rogne who snuffed out every long ball in the second period. But there were no failures really.
Ahh, that league table looks fabulous this morning.
Highlights on bbc already
how apt to see the tacky tatters of their colours blown about in celtic park, I even enjoyed looking at them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/16349890.stm
57 mins into the game….
GLASGOW’S GREEN AND WHITE is deafening.
I miss so much detail because of nerves during the live game.
Great stuff.
SwanseaBhoy
Game is on SS2 now.
Swanseabhoy
Ah leggat, the ff poster boy and the one they all look up to
Lol
Swanseabhoy
an incredible piece of fiction from Leggat
he`s playing to the Hun masses
interesting that his “balanced ” article completely failed to mention Hooper`s non offside
nor the Huns three potential red card tackles
as for the SFA ….how dare they apply the laws against the huns to their detriment
to think the Hun hoardes buy this …deluded fools
any ides what the slur on Mccosit is ..
The big ‘talking point’ in the papers will doubtless be the goal not given to the Huns.
Having watched it about 10 times with the benefit of Sky magnification I’m still in certain one way or the other. No (objective) referee in the world would have given it.
Was the ball clearly over the line? No.?therefore no goal!
Incidentally all the bickering is mindless. There were people on this blog moaning about Lawwell not releasing funds and costing us titles in the process… Guess what they were right…there were people saying Lenny was a cheap desperate appointment and that Celtic Manager is not a ‘first’ job…they too were right.
Others believed we would win … Looks like they too are going to be proven right.
Happy days all round , surely? This is the point where all Celtic supporters meet on common ground right at the TOP OF THE LEAGUE!
Puffed oot!! What a great team effort and bhoy, were they provoked and held their calm.
A very very very happy KINGLuBO
This is only the dawn, we must build and avoid complacency at all costs. It was after all, only three points and they are so easily lost if we take our foot off the gas.
Keep it going CELTIC and send hun-man into freefall.
Hail Hail Hail
KINGLuBO
I moved away temporarily last night from my seat in the North Stand Upper into the posh seats – the executive area behind the directors.
I saw the Green Brigade from a far better viewpoint, in all their splendour, noise and colour. What a fantastic sight.
They were the reason for the massive backing the whole Celtic support gave the team last night.
Very often at these games the away team makes the more noise. Not so last night. The infectious enthusiasm from the GB spread right round the ground and we were rocking.
Heard the huns singing about twice in the whole game. They were put right in their place.
So…..if there are any GB organisers on here……
Thank You bhoys, be proud of yourselves, you’re achieving something really special just now. I used to stand in the Jungle and the atmosphere just now at home games is the best we’ve had since then.
Great 10-feet-tall feeling today, there is nothing quite like it.
My first memory of beating them was the 4-0 Cup Final in ’69 and the adrenalin then is the same now.
God bless Tommy Burns, he was spot on when he said that when you pull that jersey on you’re playing for a cause….for a people.
That cause is looking in rude good health today.
MON THE HOOPS!
tully
just woke up with a big smile on my face after the game last night…………brilliant!!!!! One thought occurred to me though, now that we are back where we belong , how long until all the sh t starts again? Neil Lennon and celtic people everywhere , be careful of the hurting h n
A few random thoughts
We werent great – they were terrible.
Crowd and atmosphere were brilliant.
That and recent results shows this team has REAL character.
Theirs was a goal but there you go – no ref in the world would have given that. Lets face it Collum would have if he could.
Collum was weak resulting in increasing worse tackles. His decision to blow for half time when we were breaking was ludicrous.
Healy should have walked and might have done if it hadnt been right in front of the Rangers dug out.
(Tin hat on) McCullochs challenge on Kayal wasnt a red card , probably not even a yellow.
Wanyama looks better every time I see him.
Well done Neil and the players – a HUGE result.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to them now. A continuation of their recent collapse is distinctly possible.
HH
This must rank amongst the most remarkable Celtic wins in my lifetime. What a team Neil is building.
P.S. some of the comments on the Guardian site are worth reading..
Henr!k
Wherever you are mate, elbows was a straight red.
No debate.
No doubt.
Nothing more to say on the subject.
If you had the videos of jellyfish against Celtic would you want to buy him ? I don’t want to tempt fate but in tight games he rarely does anything.
To huns everywhere
KISS IT!!!!!!
Marc Crosas was at the game last night and posted the following on twitter;
“Yaaaaaaaas!!!!!!top of the league!!we just can’t get enough!!!what an amazing feeling being back home at PARADISE with the fans #hailhail”
“Can you hear the R******s sing?NOOOOOO…NOOOOO…”
@marccrosas
What a Celt.
Lubo.
What`s the latest re Kayal`s injury ?
btw
little questioning in the media of FPLG`s signing policy
how bad are McKay,Bedoya and Ortiz that they can`t even get on the bench in that rank Hun team
I might have posted this last night, but pr*van is a complete fud! imo.
Biblecode Sundays – They Built Paradise
A truly magnificent night. Is there anything better than beating the monkeys and going top? Aye, staying there till the seasons end. We’ll enjoy the next couple of days and then the focus is on Dunfermline. I don’t want to single out any player as they were all superb imo. They showed skill, courage, grit and discipline. Also, well done the support. A wall of noise in the 2nd half as my throat testifies to this morning
Now to the other points
Will you see a more cowardly performance from an official all season? Probably, as Collum will still be allowed to referee. His failure to send off Healy after his disgusting challenge on Forrest should see him demoted to the SFL for months to come.
As Pfayr commented above, Jelavic must have committed nearly half of the Huns fouls on his own without getting a booking. Elbows over the top challenge on Kayal was also a red. He knew he was in trouble hence his acting that he was hurt. Yet again, Collum failed in his duty to administer the card.
For the last 20 mins of that game the Huns intention was just to kick anything in a hooped shirt. They knew there was no way they were going to get back in the game. We made them look what they are, a limited side whose over reliance on the long ball founders against 2 good centre halfs who can head a ball
There is now huge pressure on that mob. Lets keep ramping up the pressure and watch them disentegrate from within