A KYOGO Furuhashi double and a Jota strike ensured Celtic beat Rangers 3-2 at Parkhead this afternoon and moved 12 points clear of their city rivals at the top of the cinch Premiership table with seven matches remaining.
The hard-fought victory, recorded without any away supporters inside the stadium, killed off the slim hopes that the Ibrox club had of coming behind their city rivals during the run-in and winning the Scottish title.
Michael Beale’s side battled from the first minute until the final whistle – but nobody could deny Ange Postecoglou’s team a result which makes their coronation as champions an inevitability.
Referee Kevin Clancy had a busy afternoon; he ruled out a Furuhashi strike for offside and an Alfredo Morelos effort for a shove before the deadlock was finally broken in the first-half.
The Japanese striker put the home side in front in the 26th minute following good work by Matt O’Riley; he controlled a cut back with his left foot, turned 180 degrees and rifled into the net.
But James Tavernier silenced the ground a minute before half-time after O’Riley had brought down Malik Tillman on the edge of his area. He whipped a free-kick in off the underside of the crossbar from fully 25 yards out.
Postecoglou’s men reclaimed the lead in the second-half when Ben Davies failed to deal with an Alastair Johnston pass into his area and Furuhashi pounced and slotted beyond Allan McGregor from an acute angle.
McGregor was partly at fault for the defending champions’ third; the veteran goalkeeper was too slow to react to an underhit John Souttar passback and Jota nipped in and took full advantage.
Tavernier gave Rangers hope of salvaging a draw with 17 minutes remaining when he got on the end of a Borna Barisic cross, headed beyond Joe Hart and took his haul of goals for Rangers to 100. But it proved to be too little too late.
Here are five talking points from the five goal thriller.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
There can be no doubt about who is going to scoop the awards for the outstanding performer in Scottish football which will be handed out at the end of the season now.
Furuhashi took his tally for the 2022/23 season to 28 with his fifth brace in eight months this afternoon. The 28-year-old showed great skill for his first and good predatory instincts for the second. He has proved to be £4.6m very well spent indeed.
The former Vissel Kobe front man is firmly on course to be the first Celtic player to plunder 30 goals in a single season since Moussa Dembele did so back in the 2016/17 campaign.
CLANCY SPOT ON
The match official angered the Rangers players when he disallowed a Morelos goal at a Borna Barisic corner at 0-0 for a push on Johnston.
But back in Clydesdale House his VAR colleagues Nick Walsh and Daniel McFarlane agreed with his swift decision after watching replays of the incident.
You could understand why Tavernier and his team mates were aggrieved at the ruling as contact was minimal to say the least. But the right back was definitely prevented from intercepting the delivery by the forward. So it was the correct call.
Clancy, who handed out no fewer than six yellow cards during the 90 minutes, handled proceedings with calm authority throughout and successfully defused the tension when passions ran high.
SOUTTAR START
It would be stretching things a little to say that Rangers were a goal down before kick-off when Connor Goldson was ruled out by a hip issue.
But the loss of the experienced English centre half was certainly a huge blow to the visitors' hopes of getting a result.
Beale was forced to draft in Souttar, who has played less than 45 minutes of competitive football since returning from a long-term ankle injury last month, to replace his vice-captain.
It was the first start the Scotland internationalist had made in over eight months; he had last kicked off a game against Livingston at Almondvale was back on July 30.
Would the former Dundee United and Hearts man be able to cope? What impact would the enforced change have on the Rangers rearguard?
They could do nothing to stop Greg Taylor, O’Riley and Furuhashi combining to open the scoring. Behind them, McGregor did well to deny his namesake Callum and Jota twice in the opening 45 minutes.
Davies was to blame for Celtic’s second and Souttar could have done better for their third. They contributed to their own downfall with unforced errors.
MIDFIELD BATTLE
Both Postecoglou and Beale changed the make-up of their midfields; the former brought in Aaron Mooy for Tomoki Iwata and the latter replaced John Lundstram with Nicolas Raskin.
Australian internationalist Mooy and Belgian kid Raskin have been sidelined with minor ailments in recent weeks. But their return strengthened their respective sides.
Beale had once again stated at his pre-match press conference that the encounter would be decided in both penalty boxes. But the battle in the middle of the park was every bit as important. Would Reo Hatate be missed by Celtic?
Mooy gifted Ryan Kent possession and lost the ball to Tillman during the early exchanges. He was not at his very best after a spell on the sidelines and was replaced by Iwata after an hour. But Callum McGregor and O’Riley excelled throughout.
Raskin, along with his fellow new boy Todd Cantwell and Ryan Jack, had his moments. He certainly showed he cared when he got involved in a shoving match with McGregor in the first-half. He looks to be an excellent signing.
But the away team were once again second best in a vital department.
PYRO LUNACY
There was a huge tifo display in the Jock Stein stand ahead of kick-off and the Green Brigade unfurled a giant banner and waved a plethora of flags in the air. Their efforts added to the colour and spectacle of the occasion greatly.
So why did the ultra group feel the need to set off green, white and orange smoke bombs as well as dozens of strobe flares just before the match commenced? More smoke canisters were lit after goals and one was hurled onto the pitch.
Their reckless, illegal, needless and irresponsible actions were dangerous to their fellow spectators. It is to be hoped there were no asthmatics or epileptics in the near vicinity who were badly affected.
Celtic have closed down the safe-standing section of their stadium in the past because of the use of pyrotechnics. They should seriously consider such a measure again before somebody is seriously hurt. It would send out a strong message that such behaviour will not be tolerated.
