Derek McInnes has endured a much‑scrutinised start to life at Ibrox but the Rangers manager got the old ground bouncing here as his side dominated Celtic in front of an all-blue crowd to decide the first Old Firm encounter of the season. Against a backdrop of bouncing techno from the tannoy, Rangers fans celebrated three memorable goals in a thumping League Cup win. A brace for the captain, Dan Neil, bookended Kevin Kelsy’s second‑half finish to put Martin O’Neill’s side down with relative ease.
It also showcased a nascent identity for McInnes’s side, one defined by unbending physical commitment and lots and lots of sprinting. The quality of the football may have been patchy, but the commitment was enough to get the 51,212 home fans at the top of their voices. With away fans banned from Old Firm fixtures this season after the pitch invasion that followed a Scottish Cup tie in March, the atmosphere was always likely to be partisan, if perhaps less heated than is customary.
Before the match there was a brisk trade on both Graeme Souness flags and boiled sweets. Inside the ground the Union Bears ultras unveiled a tifo showcasing the apparently resonant moment when Rangers’ Ian Ferguson grabbed Celtic’s Mike Galloway by the lapels during a clash in 1993. A deep cut of a banner, it did a good job of setting the tone for what was to follow.
McInnes said: “I’m delighted. The performance we gave today was the one required to overcome a team like Celtic. I thought the game demanded the players’ full attention and I’m delighted they’ve managed to deliver that.
We’ve seen the strength of the club today and it does the players no harm to understand what this match means to so many people.” Rangers went about the match with an intensity that Celtic struggled to equal from the off, some of their players looking distinctly overawed by the occasion. The former England goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was among them, flapping at two early openings, but he could do nothing about the opening goal when it arrived in the 22nd minute. After a Celtic counter broke down Rangers immediately turned play around with a long ball to the Celtic area where Cameron Carter‑Vickers failed to properly clear.
Kelsy picked up the loose ball, slipped it to Neil and the captain, signed on a free transfer from Sunderland in the summer, placed an excellent shot just inside Johnstone’s left‑hand post. After seizing the advantage, Rangers went on to dominate the second half and a second goal appeared inevitable. It duly arrived when a free-kick from the impressive James Penrice was flicked on by Ryan Naderi to the back post where Kelsy clipped his effort around the keeper and inside the left-hand post.
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