Rangers 3-0 Celtic: Philippe Clement secures first Old Firm victory as pressure eases on the manager | Football News

Rangers inflicted Celtic’s first defeat of the season with a 3-0 win as Philippe Clement’s Old Firm hoodoo ended to ease some pressure on the struggling Rangers manager.

Hurting from dropped 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 sparked the fans into life when he fired in the opener with just seven minutes on the clock.

Vaclav Cerny hit the woodwork either side of Kyogo’s offside goal as Rangers continued to dominate. Robin Propper slammed in their second with Danilo coming off the bench to wrap up a comprehensive win with his first touch.

Some of the sheen was taken off the victory when Celtic’s Arne Engels was hit by a coin thrown from the crowd.

Celtic were far from their best but remain 11 points ahead in the Scottish Premiership title race as Clement looks to have won over the fans again, for now.

Hoops humbled at Ibrox

Rangers were without goalkeeper Jack Butland and captain James Tavernier, but they started with real intent and Nedim Bajrami had three shots blocked in quick succession as they looked for an early lead.

It took just seven minutes for Ibrox to burst into life when Hagi collected from stand-in captain Raskin to send a brilliant strike into the corner of the net.

The hosts were fired up.

Vaclav Cerny almost doubled their lead soon after, his shot deflecting off Liam Scales and clipping the top of the crossbar with Ridvan Yilmaz then forcing Kasper Schmeichel into a save minutes later.

Celtic struggled to string a pass together with Daizen Maeda’s off-target shot the best they had to offer in the first half an hour.

Hagi had a chance to make it 2-0 when Reo Hatate gave away the ball but this time he dragged his shot wide.

It was then Cameron Carter-Vickers 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 picked up a booking. After the resultant free-kick was cleared, Liam Kelly pulled off a brilliant save on his Old Firm debut to stop Maeda scoring from Paulo Bernardo’s corner.

The captains clashed on the whistle with Raskin shown a yellow while Callum McGregor, already on a booking, escaped further punishment.

Celtic looked to get back into the game and Kyogo sent a brilliant volley over Kelly and into the net but VAR confirmed he was well offside.

Cerny then rattled the woodwork again as his shot crashed off the post before Rodgers rang the changes with Adam Idah, Alex Valle and Luke McCowan replacing Kyogo, Greg Taylor and Bernardo.

Rangers threatened again.

Schmeichel got down to push Cerny’s shot past, but seconds later they doubled their lead as Propper slammed the ball in on the rebound after Raskin’s header was blocked.

The hosts wanted more and Schmeichel parried Yilmaz’s long-range strike behind as the Hoops looked shellshocked.

And they weren’t done yet as Danilo came off the bench to sweep in the third with his first touch of the game.

The fans were in dreamland but still, objects were thrown from the stands onto the pitch late on with police involved in clearing them.

Clement took his players to celebrate with the fans while the Celtic players trudged down the Ibrox tunnel in disbelief at their poor showing.

‘The reward they deserve’

Rangers boss Philippe Clement told Sky Sports:

“It feels very good as the boys got the reward they deserve. What they didn’t get in the last couple of weeks – in the League Cup final and in the last couple of games – we shot ourselves in the foot with goals conceded.

“Things were not on our side then, but you can see that even with injuries and players out, everyone in this squad is working really hard to become better and better.

“This is one proof of that and we need to continue like that in the next couple of weeks and months.

“Nico [Raskin] was not ready for captaincy a few months ago. But he is taking steps. The more captains you have, the better your team is.

“It is a very important win. It gives belief to fans and everyone following Rangers. This new squad is building, there is a lot of potential in it and we will work hard to make it better. That is my job to do, and my mission, also.

‘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 get the first goal, it gives the stadium and everyone a lift in the game and then the second goal, we lose it from the corner and the third goal, obviously, again, we lose the ball.

“We made too many mistakes in the game and Rangers deserved to win it.

“It’s not what you want and it’s not what your game plan is to play. I just felt that we were slowing the ball and then we lacked an edge when we didn’t have it.

“Too passive, not aggressive enough. All round, not a very good performance.”

What’s coming up in the Scottish Premiership?