There are few events in world football and maybe even world sport quite like the Old Firm Derby when Glasgow Rangers and Celtic are pitted against each other in one of the game’s most historical fixtures.
While recent years have seen Celtic dominate the fixture on the field, off the field the clash remains as competitive as ever and this year’s Premier Sports Cup Final proved no different.
Recommended
Celtic may remain eleven points clear of their local rivals in the SPL, however, the first of the country’s silverware was up for grabs on Sunday when Hampden Park played host to the league cup final between the two sides.
Having followed up on their recent form with a 6-0 thrashing of Aberdeen in the semi-final, Celtic were coming into this fixture as red-hot favourites against a Rangers side who escaped their semi-final with a one-goal win over Motherwell despite succumbing to an early goal.
READ ALSO: “He’s Very Lucky”: Delaney Says Liverpool Harshly Denied Red Card Decision
READ ALSO: Report: Man United Close In On First Two Signings Of Amorim Era
Unsavoury scenes in Glasgow ahead of Old Firm Derby
While on the pitch there was no shortage of aggression, tensions had flared over long before a football was kicked, when swathes of fans clashed with each other and the police on the streets of Glasgow ahead of kickoff.
Today’s fixture marked one of the rare occasions that both sets of supporters have been able to get into the same ground, with cup final days among the only ones where large groups of supporters from both Glasgow clubs descend on the same stadium – support which only added to the tension ahead of today’s game.
Videos on social media show what appear to be Christmas hat-donning Rangers fans stampeding away from Celtic fans on the streets of Glasgow as the police do their utmost to keep them apart.
Other footage appears to show a similar group of fans charging down Glasgow’s streets as both sets of fans get peppered with flying flares.
Despite the unsurprising trouble ahead of kick-off in Hampden Park, Celtic and Rangers’ cup final got underway with little issue.
There was, however, a marginal delay to kickoff when smoke from the pre-game pyrotechnics played havoc with VAR’s systems, similar to the issues that delayed kickoff in both semi-finals at the start of November.
