Celtic will have to keep the Champagne on ice for a while longer after failing to collect the three points required to win the league at Ibrox this afternoon. The champions-elect looked nervous early on with few looking comfortable in possession, allowing Rangers significant periods of possession. After only 10 minutes Rangers were ahead when Sone Aluko beat Thomas Rogne before cutting inside Charlie Mulgrew and firing a shot past Forster in the Celtic goal.
Celtic scarcely featured as an attacking threat in the first half but moments after going behind Georgios Samaras produced one of the most scintillating pieces of skill on the day. The Greek international collected the ball 70 yards from goal, beat four opponents before his shot from 12 yards was saved by Alan McGregor. Anthony Stokes mishit the rebound allowing McGregor to tip over.
Stokes forced a further save from McGregor with a fine volley after controlling on his chest but the game was soon to look ominous for Celtic. Cha Du-Ri was caught wrong side of Lee Wallace and made the slighted touch on the Rangers player who went to ground two yards outside the penalty area. Referee Calum Murray sent Cha off despite the covering attendance of Charlie Mulgrew.
Despite their numerical advantage Rangers seemed content to prevent Celtic scoring, Fraster Forster didn’t make a single save while Celtic were numerically on level terms or only a single man down. Ten minutes after the break Victor Wanyama was red carded for a two footed tackle on Steven Whittaker.
Lee McCulloch was fortunate to remain on the field after elbowing Scott Brown on the head. In a carbon copy of the incident which ended Beram Kayal’s season in December, McCulloch went to ground after the incident until attended by a physio, which perhaps tempered the referee’s response. Clever, if predictable.
With things clearly not going their way Celtic then lost an offside goal. Celtic had an opportunity to make an attempt on goal when they won a free kick 28 yards out. With Charlie Mulgrew still running into position Scott Brown played a quick pass to Kris Commons but Celtic players were crowded out by a number of opponents and lost possession. Rangers broke forward and applied pressure which brought the best out of Fraser Forster but Andrew Little put Rangers two ahead from what was clearly an offside position.
A further breakaway on the 77th minute resulted in Lee Wallace putting Rangers three goals ahead.
Despite being two goals down substitute Kris Commons started to dictate play and brought Celtic their best period of possession. In the 89th minute Georgios Samaras broke through the Rangers defence but was scythed to the ground by Bocanegra. The referee awarded a penalty and ordered the Rangers player off. Scott Brown scored the penalty
Moments later Commons got the better of Whittaker on Celtic’s left before being brought down by the Rangers player. Commons found Thomas Rogne with the resultant free kick which the defender powered home.
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Auldheid:
If revenge is a dish best served cold, ice cream is definitely on the menu.
like it.
I have just watched the victor red card again, all those saying it could have been a red for whittaker as well are bang on, he goes in almost knee high and stamps down on Victor, looks particularly bad in slow motion.
If your in west Lothian get yourself down to st antons for a party
Jimbo67
Explain how you limp to a title before the month of March is even gone?
ffs
antrimkev on 25 March, 2012 at 16:58 said:
not good enough – 2nd time this season we have bullied there
Oh get a grip! Lose the gripe.
Paul67 –
That’s a fair summary of the match there.
In fairness, Sone Aluko’s goal was a cracker and if a Celtic player had scored it we would have been raving about it. But you are definitely correct that the solo run from Sammy was the best piece of play in the entire game. It deserved better.
We’re havin a party when ragers die .
Carrigan on 25 March, 2012 at 17:00 said:
The SPL should be able to nominate the officials instead of Flemming and the SFA, if the refs still cheat, then we must bring in refs from other countries.
——————————
This change to make referees more accountable is what is required.
Lennon mentioned lack of accountability today and if the SPL delegate is telling a different story from Lenny and Lenny has witnesses then another opportunity to break the stranglehold referees have on our game will present itself.
A final we thought on MIB.
I seem to remember ten men humping THEM to clinch a league title.
Then again that side had players of genuine quality like McGrain, Aitken, Lennox, McLeod andDoyle.
Yup. Sydneytim is here
No spin. Tells it how it is
Yes red con , cheat
But!! Cmon we need a center half , waiting for 5 years
And a striker mm
And Neil mm. Ki a player who tends to do nothing , we know that Neil , why don’t you
And Cha , wasn’t he unlucky
But as I have said again and again, so was Anton
Cha is a pub player
Time for abuse, CQN is the daily record of Celtic fans
Let’s be honest
ST
up_over
I make it at least four games in a row where NL has changed the format after a game has started, granted today Messi wouldn’t have swung it in our favour.
But NL really needs to find his best Celtic side, for the big occasion the inclusion of Cha and switch of Matthews to left back was another costly mistake.
Why not start with a diamond shape in midfield if we are continually changing to it?
I would also add that those who say that the second for them was off side are wrong. That is one action and ball marks the line of off isde and on side. Their player was on side.
SFTB
correct re Dougiegate
Carrigan
i was taken to task this morning by Tom McLaughlin for voicing my concerns re Murray ….i await his further comments with interest
Agent Craig “Green and” Whyte!! on 25 March, 2012 at 17:04 said:
bournesouprecipe on 25 March, 2012 at 16:46 said:
Anybody answering the question why Neil was not allowed into the stand?
I would imagine that they couldn’t guarantee his safety. Which just shows how highly thought of that the hun scum are.
================================
Alison Robbie @AlisonRobbie Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
#Celtic NL watched 2nd half in press room as security told him not to sit in stand for his own safety
Retweeted by Phil MacGiollaBhain
What a fawning performance from 5live today. Two worst were Calumn Murray and of course Nevin
They were loving the atmosphere and the singing of both sides. Not sure how Nevin heard anything with his headphones on.
Did the Huns manage 90 mins without any of their usual songs?
Z
wrong
the ball was headed on by a hun player …Wallace was 2 yards offside
Westim,
So who do you believe, Lennon or Murray?
TJ
Ho Ho
Truth is back
Who’d have thunk it!
remember all those jibes about whether ta balance sheet was better than winning tainted titles?
I think that is worthy of debate.
quonno on 25 March, 2012 at 17:06 said:
//////////////
Well said m8.
Hail Hail
The party continues , st antons armadale . Sing it loud
Our manager told to watch second half in press room for his own safety.
Tells you all you need to know about them and their followers.
Scum.
setting free the bears on 25 March, 2012 at 17:00 said:
======================
Good post
HH
Should be referred to Callum Murray…..et al !!!!!!!!!!
He’s a puppet
Ratbag puppet
celtic have to get out of
this leauge the refs are
biased ,work our way
up from an english division
shocking descisions
today
Jackie mac
No chance Wallace, for example, would have been red carded at the other end if we were in that position. Certainly different rules for us today.
We should have come out flying today, nothing to lose, a title to win, and we didn’t. Decisions then made sure we couldn’t compete. But even with 9 men, if only there was another few mins left….
We will be champions. We still have to play them at parkhead – we need to go out and destroy them. And smarten up or we will struggle in the cup.
When it was 11 v 11 we were poor and that was very dissappointing. We will need to get back on track if we are going to win the Cup as well.
Dishonest and terrible decision to send Cha off. Minimal contact, outside the box, debatable whether Wallace would have even got there, and we had a covering player.
Ah well, suppose shouldn’t dwell on things. I be delighted when we are champions!
Some positives:
Great spirit with 9 men on the pitch
Finally seemed to have found a penalty taker
Thought we looked a better team when Izzy came on and likewise Commons
Lenny’s ‘treatment’ at HT ,ALONE…………………says enough.
Players let the club down.
Lennon let the club down.
Noticed Sky commenting on the huns trying to do a mass huddle.
I thought it was just cos one of them at the front turned around to talk to his pal. The domino effect of hideous coupons then kicked in as they tried to avoid looking at each others’ ugly mugs.
The utterly hopeless David Tanner was at the top of his game today.
His best comment, in a programme crammed with his special brand of wisdom, was: “Craig White – remember him?”
Aye David, we do. He’s the current owner of Rangers and all their assets…
If ever you wanted a reason to see that disgrace of a club die, the fact that our manager had to watch second half on the tv because rfc couldn’t guarantee his safety in the stand is perhaps the biggest.
What a vile club
Aye SydneyTim,
And your our Hugh Keevins!
You get more joy putting the boot into Celtic than praising them when they do well.
Am I right in thinking that a certain hun is back and serial trolling under various monickers??
Is Mise Neil Lennon on 25 March, 2012 at 17:09 said:
antrimkev on 25 March, 2012 at 16:58 said:
not good enough – 2nd time this season we have bullied there
Oh get a grip! Lose the gripe.
really?
our 2 centre backs were rag dolled by elbows all game
in the 4-2 games our centre backs were rag dolled all game
take the green tinted specs off
Just see for the avoidance of doubt — Wallace is at least, at least a yard, if not TWO yards offside.
an opposing manager sent from the dugout is told that they can’t guarantee his safety in the main stand…yet all the laptop loyal tell us we can’t live without them.
Smith watched every game from the main stand at Celtic Park. Was there ever any concerns for his safety…..NO!
Another thing how the hell did mculloch get away with his assault on Brown.
That was a clear elbow,and he has the cheek to go down as if he was hurt…wait a min haven’t wee seen that before? Oh aye that’s when he went in studs up to do Kayal
I really how Neil get answers on the clown murrays performance and sending him to the stands.
bournesouprecipe
The coaching team need to look at themselves. We have played, 4-4-1-1, 4-2-3-1 in the past, but until today we had never once played a flat (correct word) 4-5-1. Added to that, Stokes up top – ridiculous, and Lenny deserves everything he got with that result.
The players – pansies. I’m not buying into the idea that because they rallied, that showed their true spirit. Where was their spirit at the start of the game?
Forget next week. Today was the day to win it. Would the huns have been so meek turning up at our place to win the league? Not on your Nelly.