Rangers leapfrogged Celtic at the top of the table with a priceless 1-0 win at Ibrox in the final Old Firm derby of the season.
Gers go two points clear at the top
Rangers leapfrogged Celtic at the top of the table with a priceless 1-0 win at Ibrox in the final Old Firm derby of the season.
Steven Davis was the hero for Rangers with the only goal of the game on 37 minutes to put Walter Smith's men in pole position for the SPL title.
Celtic poured forward in the second half in search of an equaliser, but Rangers held on to claim all three points.
The win moves Rangers two points clear of their arch-rivals with only three games left to play as they look to end Celtic's run of three successive championship successes.
Davis attempted to give Rangers an early advantage with a shot from distance which flashed across the face of goal and wide without really troubling Artur Boruc in the Celtic goal.
Kenny Miller then connected with a Christian Dailly cross from the right but his overhead kick was also off-target.
At the other end, Celtic had the opportunity to put their hosts under pressure when they earned a free-kick just outside the box for a David Weir foul on Scott McDonald.
Shunsuke Nakamura presided over the set-piece and a well struck, curling effort was tipped just over the crossbar by Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander.
If that chance was close, Steven Whittaker then drew gasps from the Ibrox crowd with a cross intended for Davis which eluded everyone in the box before smacking off the far post.
Celtic were furious with 32 minutes gone when McDonald went to ground under pressure from Whittaker as he was about to unleash the shot and referee Craig Thomson ignored the pleas for a penalty.
Opener
Five minutes later, Rangers surged into the lead. Kris Boyd slipped a pass through to Miller who whipped the ball into the goalmouth for Davis to slide into the back of the net from inside the six-yard box.
There was concern for the home side just before the break when Maurice Edu crumpled to the turf after apparently suffering a late challenge from Loovens but, despite initially looking like his game was over, he was able to return to the action.
Celtic then had a great chance to restore parity before the half-time whistle but Davis' contribution at the other end proved to be just as significant when he cleared a Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink header off the line.
The big Dutchman had a chance to make amends in the second half when he threw himself in front of an Andreas Hinkel cross only to see his header smothered by Alexander this time.
Opportunity
A major criticism of Boyd's game has been his lack of goals against Celtic - he had netted just once in 18 career appearances before this game - and he squandered another great opportunity.
The striker ran onto a lovely ball from Miller, raced into the box, and squeezed between two hooped jerseys only to fire straight at Boruc, who managed to block the point-blank shot.
McGeady was thrown into the action for Maloney with just over an hour gone and was not too far away with a blistering drive which was narrowly off-target as the champions desperately tried to haul themselves back into the game.
Boyd could have sealed the win with five minutes to go but nodded over after again being set up by Miller but Rangers managed to hold on for the win which puts them in the driving seat.
