Rangers handed Celtic their first defeat of the season with a 3-0 win after Philippe Clement’s Old Firm hoodoo ended to ease the pressure on the embattled Rangers manager.
Damaged by dropping points at St Mirren and Motherwell, Clement’s side were fired up to beat their rivals for the first time since May 2023.
They were the better side from kick-off and Ianis Hagi brought the fans to life when he scored early with just seven minutes on the clock.
Vaclav Cerny hit the box either side of Kyog’s goal from the back as Rangers continued to dominate. Robin Propper struck in their second and Danilo came off the bench to seal the big win with his first touch.
Some of the gloss was taken off the win when Celtic’s Arne Engels was hit by a coin thrown from the crowd.
Celtic have been far from their best but remain 11 points clear in the Scottish Premiership title race as Clement appears to have won the fans over again, for now.
Hoops humiliated at Ibrox
Rangers were without goalkeeper Jack Butland and captain James Tavernier but started with real intent and Nedim Bajrami blocked three shots in quick succession as they looked for an early lead.
It took just seven minutes for Ibrox to come alive when Hagi took help from stand-in captain Raskin and fired a brilliant shot into the corner of the net.
The hosts were fired up.
Vaclav Cerny almost doubled his lead soon after, his shot deflected off Liam Scales and Ridvan Yilmaz hitting the top of the crossbar, before forcing Kasper Schmeichel into a save minutes later.
Celtic struggled to connect a pass with Daizen Maeda’s shot off target, the best they could offer in the first half hour.
Hagi had a chance to make it 2-0 when Reo Hatate gave the ball away, but this time he slipped the shot wide.
Then Cameron Carter-Vickers came to the rescue with a brilliantly timed sliding tackle to stop Mohamed Diomande putting Rangers further ahead.
Jefte left Nicolas Kuhn with a cut nose as half-time approached as he was booked. After the resulting free-kick was ruled out, Liam Kelly made a brilliant save on his Old Firm debut to stop Maeda from Paul Bernard’s corner.
The captains clashed after the whistle with Raskin booked while Callum McGregor, already booked, escaped further punishment.
Celtic looked to get back into the game and Kyogo volleyed brilliantly over Kelly and into the net, but VAR confirmed he was offside.
Cerny then rattled the woodwork again as his shot flew wide of the post before Rodgers made changes with Adam Idaho, Alex Valle and Luke McCowan replacing Kyog, Greg Taylor and Bernard.
The Rangers threatened again.
Schmeichel got down to push over Cerny’s shot, but seconds later they doubled their lead when Propper latched onto the rebound after Raskin’s header had been blocked.
The hosts wanted more and Schmeichel deflected Yilmaz’s long-range shot behind him as the Hoops looked shell-shocked.
And they weren’t done yet because Danilo came off the bench and swept in the third with the first touch of the game.
The fans were in the land of dreams, but late on, objects were thrown from the stands onto the field, and the police cleared them up.
Clement led his players to celebrate with the fans as Celtic’s players trudged down the Ibrox tunnel in disbelief at the poor result.
‘The reward they deserve’
Rangers boss Philippe Clement told Sky Sports:
“It’s a very good feeling because the boys got the reward they deserve. What they didn’t get in the last few weeks – in the League Cup final and in the last few games – we shot ourselves in the foot with the goals we conceded.
“Things were not on our side then, but you can see that even with injuries and players out of the machine, everyone in this team is working very hard to get better and better.
“This is one proof of that and we need to continue like that in the next few weeks and months.
“Nico [Raskin] he wasn’t ready for captaincy a few months ago. But he is taking steps. The more captains you have, the better your team is.
“This is a very important win. It gives faith to the fans and everyone who follows Rangers. This new team is building, there is a lot of potential in it and we will work hard to make it better. That is my job and my mission, too.
‘Rangers were better than us’
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers on Sky Sports:
“I thought the best team won. I thought Rangers were better than us.
“We made too many mistakes. When they concede the first goal, it gives the stadium and everyone a boost in the game, and then the second goal, we lose it from a corner and the third goal, obviously, we lose the ball again.
“We made too many mistakes in the game and Rangers deserved to win.
“It’s not what you want and it’s not your game plan. I just felt we were slowing the ball down and then we lacked an advantage when we didn’t have it.
“Too passive, not aggressive enough. Overall, not a very good performance.”
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