controversy as celtic lose at ibrox
Laura Brannan
CELTIC lost 1-0 to Rangers in a controversial game at Ibrox, with Maurice Edu scoring an injury-time winner for the home side.
Most of the post-match analysis, however, will focus on the performance of referee Dougie McDonald, who sent off Celtic captain Scott Brown just after the hour mark, a decision which seemed to mystify most observers.
And when he failed to give Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra a second yellow after yet another late challenge from the back on Robbie Keane, it only added to the sense of injustice felt in the Broomloan Stand and beyond amongst the Celtic support.
Six Celts made their Glasgow derby debut in the third crunch meeting of the season. Keane, Edson Braafheid, Diomansy Kamara, Thomas Rogne and Josh Thompson lined up in the starting XI, with Ki Sung Yueng coming on in the 68th minute for Marc-Antoine Fortune.
There was little between the two teams in first half, with much of the action taking place in the midfield.
Keane almost put the Hoops ahead after just 31 seconds, but his shot from the edge of the box was saved by Rangers keeper Allan McGregor. And the home side also enjoyed a good chance just minutes later when Boyd broke free from the Celtic defence, but Artur Boruc did well to narrow his angle, with striker hitting the side-netting.
Rangers had the ball in the net just before the half-hour mark when substitute Maurice Edu, on for the injured Lee McCulloch, fired a low shot below Boruc’s outstretched arm and into the bottom-left corner of the net, but the whistle had already blown for a Kenny Miller hand ball in the penalty area.
And Miller was also denied just minutes later by Boruc. Latching onto a through ball from Boyd, he got beyond Thompson and Rogne, only to be denied by the Polish goalkeeper.
Tony Mowbray’s side suffered their own injury blow when Thomas Rogne, who had looked composed in the early stages of the game, was forced to come off through injury, Irishman Darren O’Dea replacing him in central defence.
Celtic’s next chance of the half came from Keane who volleyed goalwards after good work from Fortune, but McGregor did well to save.
But perhaps the best chance of the first half fell to Fortune, who twisted and turned beyond the Rangers defence but fired wide of the target.
Celtic started the second half brightly but the game turned on a moment of controversy just after the hour mark.
The Hoops captain, Scott Brown, tangled with Kyle Lafferty, and referee Dougie McDonald immediately produced a red card for the Celtic player, with his Rangers opponent not penalised for his part in the incident.
Ki replaced Marc Antoine Fortune in a tactical switch by the Hoops boss, but it was the home side who pressed forward with the numerical advantage.
And just when it looked as though Celtic would leave with a hard-fought point, Edu bundled home the ball from inside the six-yard box to give Rangers the three points and leave Celtic 10 points behind in the table, and with yet another controversial derby refereeing decision to analyse.
Rangers 1
(Edu 93)
Celtic 0
Ibrox
Scottish Premier League
Sunday, February 28, 2010
RANGERS (4-4-2) McGregor, Whittaker, Weir, Bougherra, Papac, McCulloch (Edu) , Davis, Thomson, Lafferty (Novo), Boyd, Miller
Subs: Alexander, Beasley, Fleck, Little, Wilson
CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc, Hinkel, Thompson, Rogne (O’Dea), Braafheid, McGeady (Samaras), NGuemo, Brown, Kamara, Keane, Fortune (Ki)
Subs: Zaluska, Wilson, Rasmussen, Zhi
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