Celtic 3-1 Rangers: Hoops victorious in final Old Firm | OneFootball

Celtic ran out victorious over Rangers this afternoon, in the final Old Firm of the season. Mikey Moore put Rangers ahead early on, before goals from Hyun-Jun Yang and Daizen Maeda turned the game around.

It was a fiery affair, as per usual when these two sides meet, with eight yellow cards being handed out by Nick Walsh. Six went to Celtic and two to Rangers.

The result means that Rangers’ title hopes are officially ended, whilst Celtic move within a point of the league leaders, Hearts.

As It Happened

Celtic started well, with Arne Engels forcing Jack Butland into an uncomfortable save from his long-range strike. Youssef Chermiti also came close to opening the scoring moments later, but his shot drifted wide.

However, it was Moore who found the first goal of the afternoon when he pounced upon a loose ball and fired home from close range. Moore almost netted a second less than five minutes later, but his shot was cleared off the line by Liam Scales.

Rangers continued to apply pressure on the Celtic goal, forcing Viljami Sinisalo into an impressive double save to deny Chermiti and Moore. The hosts came close to a leveller when Maeda missed from inside the penalty area. Chermiti was then shown the first yellow card of the afternoon by Nick Walsh for a late challenge on Engels.

The home side found an equaliser in the 23rd minute when Yang fired home; much of that goal has to be credited to a superb ball between the lines from Alistair Johnston. A quick break from Celtic had them looking certain to take the lead until Emmanuel Fernandez pulled off a superb tackle to halt the attack at the crucial moment.

Johnston was shown a yellow card shortly before half-time after he flew into Moore on the halfway line. Shortly after, James Tavernier won a free-kick in a dangerous area, and he picked out Nasser Djiga, but the defender couldn’t keep his header down, meaning the sides went in level at the break.

Martin O’Neill made one change at the interval, with Sebastian Tounekti replacing Luke McCowan. The Hoops nearly took the lead early in the second half, but Maeda failed to get the required touch on Benjamin Nygren’s cross.

They didn’t have to wait much longer to get themselves in front, however, with Maeda turning the ball home from ten yards out after he got ahead of Fernandez. Just moments later, Celtic doubled their lead when Maeda performed a simply sensational bicycle kick to net his second of the afternoon.

Danny Röhl and Rangers responded by making a triple change that saw Tavernier, Oliver Antman and Mohamed Diomande replaced by Dujon Sterling, Thelo Aasgaard and Djeidi Gassama. Auston Trusty was added to the referee’s book in the 67th minute for bringing down Moore.

Rangers looked to get themselves back into the game, but both Chermiti and Djiga’s efforts only found the side netting. Reo Hatate replaced Nygren moments later, and Bojan Miovski was also introduced to proceedings, bringing Tochi Chukwuani’s afternoon to a close.

Tempers flared in the Celtic box moments later, with Kieran Tierney and Tuur Rommens shown yellow cards for their part in the melee. The cards continued to come out when Scales was booked for a foul on Chermiti, meaning the entire Celtic back four were walking a tight rope for the remainder of the match.

Yang, who opened the scoring, was then withdrawn for Kelechi Iheanacho for his Old Firm debut. Anthony Ralston was also introduced, replacing Johnston. Maeda was shown a yellow card for persistent fouls shortly after.

Celtic’s sixth yellow card of the day was shown to Hatate for delaying the restart from a Rangers free-kick. Rangers continued to push for a second goal, with Miovski seeing his header rebound off the crossbar, meaning they were condemned to a third consecutive league defeat for the first time since 2000.