Old Firm: Second half at Ibrox delayed after glass bottle thrown into Joe Hart's goalmouth
Shards of glass were seen in the penalty area of the Copland stand as Joe Hart ran to his goal for the second half; Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou confirms a member of his backroom team was also hit with another bottle and needed stitches
Sunday 3 April 2022 18:11, UK
The second half of the Old Firm clash between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox was delayed by five minutes after a glass bottle was thrown onto the pitch.
Action was about to get back underway when Joe Hart alerted referee Willie Collum about the object thrown on the pitch near the Copland Stand, with shards of glass seen sprayed across his penalty area.
After seeing the broken bottle on the ground and alerting the referee, Hart rushed over to inform Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou, before discussing the incident with Rangers midfielder Aaron Ramsey.
A group of stewards joined referee Collum in the Celtic penalty area to help clear the area of grass, while Rangers striker Kemar Roofe also helped by checking the ground alongside Celtic's Hart.
A Police Scotland spokesperson told Sky Sports News: "We are aware of a glass bottle being thrown on the pitch at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow during the Rangers v Celtic match on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
"Enquiries are currently ongoing to establish the full circumstances."
After the game, Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou revealed that a member of his backroom coaching staff was also hit with a bottle thrown by a member of the Ibrox crowd, with the individual needing stitches.
"It is disappointing," Postecoglou said. "You don't need it. I don't know what people are trying to achieve by doing that. I thought it was a fantastic spectacle.
"Sitting here now as the winning coach, that kind of taints my view of it, but I thought anybody watching that would agree it was a good game of football and you could tell there was something meaningful at the end of it by the way both sets of players went at it.
"Like I said their crowd was up for it, our 700 was up for it and couldn't stop signing. That is what you want."
When asked to confirm that a Celtic employee had been struck, Postecoglou said: "Yeah, he was, on the way in. I think he is okay, He had a couple of stitches.
"It is disappointing because this is a game that gets beamed around the world and it stands on its own. You had two teams going at it in first and second spot and you don't need a couple of idiots spoiling it."
A Celtic statement read: "We can confirm that a member of our backroom staff was struck by a glass bottle. He required urgent medical treatment and stitches to a head wound. The matter is now in the hands of Police Scotland."
Police Scotland are also investigating this incident.
A spokesperson told Sky Sports News: "We are aware of a glass bottle being thrown at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow during the Rangers v Celtic match on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
"One man has sustained injuries as a result of this and required treatment.
"Enquiries are currently ongoing to establish the full circumstances."
Reacting to the broken glass incident, former Celtic striker Andy Walker said on Sky Sports: "That is absolutely outrageous, to see broken bottles on the field of play which can affect the referee, the players, anyone that it's aimed at. It's outrageous.
"It's one thing to demonstrate, as we saw a couple of weeks ago, to protest using tennis balls, toilet paper - and we'd even get issues with that. But broken bottles? It beggars belief.
"You're trying to sell this game everywhere, our showpiece occasion? [These are] shameful scenes, shameful that anyone would choose to throw anything onto the pitch, never mind a broken bottle."
Rangers icon Ally McCoist added: "That [embarrassing] is exactly what it is. You keep thinking nothing will ever surprise you anymore but dear me. Honestly? Absolute gross stupidity."
Around 10 minutes later, objects were thrown at Celtic attacker Jota when he was about to take a corner.
Celtic moved six points clear in the Scottish Premiership title race after goals from Tom Rogic and Cameron Carter-Vickers saw them come from behind to beat Rangers 2-1.
Three arrested after Ibrox vandalism
Three people were arrested after a turnstile at Ibrox, which was supposed to be used by Rangers fans on Sunday, was vandalised with expanding foam ahead of the Old Firm game.
The foam was sprayed around the entrances to the turnstiles at the Broomloan end, which used to traditionally be the away end for Celtic fans in this fixture.
Only 650 tickets were allocated to Celtic supporters for the fixture, which is a stark contrast to the 7,000 tickets that used to be given to every visiting team at Old Firm fixtures before 2018. Sunday's fixture was the first Glasgow derby to have away supporters in the ground since before the pandemic.
A police statement read: "Police responded around 2.45am on Sunday, April 3, 2022 following vandalism at Ibrox Stadium, Govan.
"Officers attended and three men aged 18, 22 and 25 have been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. Enquiries remain ongoing."
