Celtic vs Rangers. Scottish Premiership.
Celtic ParkAttendance59,646.
Match report as Celtic move 12 points clear after a controversial Old Firm clash; both sides have early goals disallowed; Kyogo opens the scoring with James Tavernier equalising before the break; the Japan striker nets his second before Tavernier brings up 100 Rangers goals
Saturday 8 April 2023 20:21, UK
Celtic moved 12 points clear in the Scottish Premiership title race despite James Tavernier bringing up a century of goals for Rangers in a controversial Old Firm clash.
Kyogo Furuhashi and Alfredo Morelos had early goals disallowed, with the Ibrox club to write to the Scottish FA over the decision to deny the Rangers striker's opener for a foul.
Kyogo scored a double either side of Tavernier's stunning free-kick, Jota adding a third for the leaders before the Rangers captain made it 3-2 with his landmark goal.
The victory all but wraps up the Premiership title for the Hoops, and Rangers are now without a victory at Celtic Park in their last six visits.
Aaron Mooy returned to the Celtic starting XI but Reo Hatate missed out again.
Rangers had to do without defender Connor Goldson in an Old Firm game for the first time since he joined in 2018 with John Souttar making just his second start of the season.
It was the usual frantic start and Rangers had an early chance to put Joe Hart under pressure in the Celtic goal when Mooy gave away possession, but Ryan Kent failed to take advantage.
Kyogo had the ball in the net for Celtic in the sixth minute but the Japanese striker was well offside.
Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers wiped out Morelos on the halfway line to pick up the first booking of the game before the hosts went on the attack again.
Daizen Maeda cut inside and set up Callum McGregor, whose low drive was saved by Allan McGregor at the second attempt.
The veteran Rangers keeper was called into action again soon after to punch Jota's curling shot to safety as Celtic ramped up the pressure.
Morelos then thought he had given the visitors the lead in the 20th minute as he stabbed home from Tavernier's corner, but it was disallowed for the striker's foul on Alistair Johnston following a VAR check.
It was a decision that sparked debate, with Ally McCoist branding it "embarrassing" on Sky Sports.
Celtic then did take the lead in the 26th minute.
Matt O'Riley found Kyogo unmarked six yards out and he made no mistake as Celtic Park erupted.
The Premiership leaders were back in control and Jota went close to making it 2-0 with McGregor beating his 35-yard effort to safety.
Tempers flared with half time approaching and Celtic skipper McGregor and Nicolas Raskin both picked up yellow cards after clashing in the middle of the park.
O'Riley was then booked for taking out Malik Tillman in a dangerous area just before the break, and Tavernier took full advantage, curling in a stunning free-kick in off the crossbar to level the game and take his goal tally for the club to 99.
Hart pulled off a strong save at the start of the second half as Morelos looked to give the Ibrox side the lead, and the Colombian then got on the end of the resultant corner only to see his shot deflected wide.
Celtic looked certain to score as Kyogo latched onto a ball from O'Riley, but Borna Barisic pulled off an outstanding goal-line clearance before the offside flag was raised.
The forward did get his second just after the hour after a mistake from Ben Davies. He failed to clear Jota's cross and it fell to Kyogo for a simple finish.
The Gers defender then recovered to stop Kyogo scoring his hat-trick after he brought down Greg Taylor's cross in the box.
Another Rangers mistake saw Jota make it 3-1 in the 73rd minute. Souttar's back pass did not have enough and the Portuguese winger burst round McGregor and rolled the ball into the empty net as chants of "champions again" roared from the stands.
Tavernier hit the 100 milestone six minutes later when he headed past Hart to pull the game back to 3-2, but it was not enough for the visitors.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou heaped praise on his players as they extended their impressive winning run:
"It was edgy out there, we could've made it more comfortable than it was but credit to this group of players as they always find a way to get the job done.
"It's not like Kyogo and Jota need to prove anything. In every game they contribute and they were outstanding today.
"We needed the energy but the good thing about us was even when we weren't smooth we were still pressing and forcing mistakes from them.
"We don't drop below a certain standard, irrespective of if we're dominating the game or not.
"I don't know how many times I have to say that nothing is easy. If anyone thinks what we do is easy they just have to step into my shoes for the day.
"You've got to earn everything you've got in this game.
"It's an unbelievable run this group of players has been on and every single one has earned it the hard way and will continue to do that."
Michael Beale told Sky Sports that Rangers paid the price for poor decisions and mistakes:
"We definitely deserved something from the game.
"I thought we were good and at the start of the second half the chance is with us then obviously we've made two big errors out of nowhere and found ourselves 3-1 down.
"We come back into the game well and we were pushing until the end but there are one or two decisions that I think have gone against us, so I'm a bit disappointed with that.
"Certainly, in terms of the goal Alfredo scores first half, their boy [Johnston] isn't trying to play the ball and if you look at Alfredo's shirt and the number on his back it's twisted round to his left shoulder. That would prove that both were at it.
"After Ben's [Davies'] mistake, I'm sure it hits the boy's [Kyogo] arm. It might not be outside his body but it leads to the goal.
"They're rough decisions for us today, the mistakes were costly but I thought we played well for large parts."
Rangers captain James Tavernier hit a career milestone, but was more focused on refereeing decisions:
"I've just looked back and seen their second goal was a handball. And I didn't think our first (disallowed) goal was a foul.
"But these are the margins. You're coming away with no points and that's what we don't want to do. We're disappointed."
Sky Sports' Kris Boyd did not hold back on his thoughts about Alfredo Morelos' disallowed goal at 0-0:
"It's embarrassing.
"It's a contact sport, Alistair Johnston has a grip of Alfredo Morelos and Alfredo Morelos has a grip of him as well.
"Then all of a sudden he decides to fall forward because he's caught under the ball.
"The both of them are at it.
"There is a push from Morelos - he's just trying to free himself.
"For me I don't think there's enough in it to be given as a foul and if it was at the other end the Celtic fans and Celtic players would be of the exact same opinion."
Celtic's next Scottish Premiership match is away to Kilmarnock on April 16, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 12pm.
Rangers are at home to St Mirren on April 15. Kick-off 3pm.
