Kenny Miller was a particular thorn in the home side and his goal aside, the performance he turned in inspired Gers to a battling showing up front.
It just wasn’t enough for them to sneak a point though and they suffered just their third defeat of a momentous league campaign.
After mixing his team up considerably against Dundee United, it was no surprise that Walter Smith brought most of his big-name players back for this one.
Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker, Lee McCulloch, Steven Davis, Kyle Lafferty and Miller all returned to the starting line-up.
Also in the team was Steven Naismith after his excellent performance at Tannadice, while Steven Smith continued in the absence of the suspended Sasa Papac.
Some 7,500 fans filled the away end and they’ll have taken great satisfaction at the scores of empty seats in the areas for home fans around the ground.
It has been an extremely poor season for Celtic as Gers have dominated – and the travelling support was quick to remind those who had bothered to back the hosts of that.
With balloons, banners and one song boasting about their SPL title triumph after another, they were in fine voice well before kick off as they celebrated the championship in style.
It would be disrespectful to this fixture to say there is ever a meaningless Old Firm derby and despite the league already being over, that certainly wasn’t the case.
For the visitors, there was the opportunity to go through a season unbeaten against their most bitter rivals for the first time in a decade.
They also had an outstanding domestic record to protect, having lost just three times in 46 previous fixtures in the SPL, the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.
Above all else, there was a sheer desire after romping to the silverware to justify their status as the best side in Scotland yet again.
In the first few minutes of the dramatic 1-0 win over Celtic in February, Kevin Thomson set a tone with a series of crunching tackles on Robbie Keane.
Seconds into this one, he flew into the Irishman again and conceded a clumsy free kick – and the corner which came after that was cleared was to prove too much for McGregor.
After a ruck of bodies went for the ball, the goalkeeper went down holding his knee and with just a couple of minutes gone his game was over.
He was carried off following extensive treatment and Neil Alexander was pitched into the fray as his replacement.
Another foul once play got underway – this time by Naismith on Aiden McGeady – gave the hosts their first shooting chance and with it they went in front.
Naylor scored with the resulting free kick but it was a curious strike as everyone inside the stadium expected him to go for Alexander’s top-left corner.
The left-back seemed to shape that way himself but he went low instead and with a slight deflection, his shot wrong-footed everyone and crept inside the far post from 35 yards.
Back came Rangers, with Miller latching on to Andreas Hinkel’s misplaced pass and almost teeing up Lafferty for a quick-fire leveller.
The Northern Ireland striker guided the ball just wide instead but his effort did at least spark a better period for the champions.
After their bad start, they settled more and the quick footwork shown by the likes of Lafferty and Naismith was starting to cause problems.
The Light Blues’ final ball was all that let them down at times and as play raged on, they began to find their rhythm.
But then Thomson was unfortunate to pick up a yellow card for another foul, although it was probably dished out so hastily after he was a touch lucky to escape one earlier.
McCulloch was next into the book after he took out Fortune from behind and just 20 minutes in, two of their most combative players were on cautions.
Celtic set about trying to exploit that in the best way they could and they nearly did it through a bizarre mistake by referee Calum Murray.
He gave a corner when Davis clearly cannoned the ball off Diomansy Kamara for a goal kick but thankfully for Gers it came to nothing.
Thomson forced a similar set piece at the other end but it was equally ineffective and the hosts were the ones starting to dictate a little more.
Even so, they weren’t exactly peppering the Rangers goal with shots either and although the Ibrox team trailed it was comfortable enough.
With that said, it took an excellent last-ditch tackle from Smith to stop Keane from scoring after he was played in.
At the other end, Artur Boruc spread himself really well to deny Miller twice – only for the striker to have more success at the third time of asking.
Whittaker was the provider and his pinpoint cross found the Scotland hitman perfectly, with his header soaring into the back of the net.
No sooner were Rangers level than they were behind again, although there were question marks over whether it should have stood.
A deep ball came into the away penalty area and with Smith and Fortune grappling for it, the Celtic player seemed to be using his arms a bit more than he should have.
Yet despite climbing all over his opponent, he got his header on target and it just squirmed over the line to make it 2-1.
Half-time allowed for a pause in play and almost led to the game being abandoned as a prolonged false fire alarm nearly led to the ground being evacuated.
Once it was eventually stopped and the match resumed, it was Gers who nearly struck again when Davis’ free kick nearly drifted across the penalty area and in at the back post.
Miller then came close when he turned one man and stepped away from another before shooting just wide.
Celtic also lost their keeper when Boruc had to be replaced by Lukasz Zaluska but while the away side had more of the ball, they couldn’t test the Pole initially.
Miller was having a good game though and after being pulled up for an apparent foul when making space for himself in the box, he shot just past from Whittaker’s cross.
Moments later, he was so close again after good work between him and Edu and then it was only a crucial touch from Mark Wilson that stopped him.
While it was the visitors who were doing more of the running, Celtic might have made it 3-1 through Scott Brown but his easy header flashed over.
Davis nearly made it 2-2 after substitute Nacho Novo did well to win back possession but his shot deflected just the wrong side of the upright.
Another replacement, Georgios Samaras, also had a go but his chip was a yard higher than he’d have liked.
That chance came in a rare foray into the Gers box by Celtic and Miller must have wondered what he had to do to score again as another effort was cleared off the line.
Time was beginning to run out for the champions and in tandem, their chances were becoming more limited as Neil Lennon’s men looked to finish strongly.
Yet just when it looked as though there would be a tame ending to the game, fury erupted as Lee McCulloch was sent off.
There was nothing debatable about the sending off and following his second bookable foul, committed on McGeady, he had to go.
But as is often the case in situations, there was one almighty ensuing fracas which required both Lennon and Kenny McDowall to step in as mediators.
Further yellows were flashed at Miller and O’Dea and down to 10 men, any chance of a Rangers comeback was gone.
Not that it mattered as much as it would normally to the away support, who cheered and celebrated their league win from start to finish.
Celtic might have won the battle but against all the odds it was Rangers who had won the war and this result was far too little too late for the Parkhead team.
That’s why the clapping and singing from the home support was still vastly outweighed by the jubilant atmosphere in the away end.
They even topped it off with some sarcastic clapping at the home team as they did their end-of-season parade around the pitch.
And with one almighty party out of the way, it’s on to another this Sunday as the trophy is presented to the champions in their last game at home to Motherwell.