In what was Philippe Clement’s first game against city rivals Celtic at Parkhead, goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi on 25 and 47 minutes respectively gave the home side a victory which moves them eight points clear at the top of table going into the new year, with the Light Blues having two games in hand.
James Tavernier’s stunning free-kick with three minutes of the ninety remaining gave the visitors late hope but it wasn’t to be and Gers’ impressive unbeaten run, which had stretched to 16 games, came to an end.
A pre-match blizzard raised a few concerns about the Parkhead pitch but the snow had passed by the time the teams emerged from the tunnel to warm-up for the big match, with the playing surface holding up well ahead of kick-off under a light drizzle of rain.
Clement named just one change to his team, with John Lundstram returning to the midfield and taking the place of Kieran Dowell, who started the previous league outing against Motherwell on Christmas Eve.
It was Todd Cantwell that got the match underway from Nick Walsh’s first whistle, with the visitors quickly getting into their familiar 4-3-3 shape.
Celtic, however, created the first goalscoring chance with just five minutes on the clock. Kyogo got in behind the Gers backline but his left-foot shot from a tight angle was saved by Jack Butland at his near post.
The pressure was building from Brendan Rodgers’ men and the home fans were out of their seats again when a cross was curled in from the left wing and Bernardo’s glancing header went wide of target.
Rangers were a threat going forward in the early stages and on 19 minutes a clever back-heel from Ross McCausland found Abdallah Sima but his shot from 20 yards was wasteful and flew over Joe Hart’s crossbar.
Celtic’s Bernardo was finding pockets of space in the last third of the pitch and almost immediately after Sima’s effort, the Portuguese forward was given time to receive the ball and turn before blasting a low shot from distance which rippled the side netting as Butland dived to his right.
The opening goal arrived on 25 minutes and it was the same player who broke the deadlock. A teasing corner dropped to the number 28 who blasted an unstoppable half-volley into the net.
Just after the half-hour mark Rangers were presented with an opportunity to get back on level terms. A moment of slackness from Celtic allowed Cyriel Dessers to drive into the 18-yard box and towards goal but, with just Hart to beat, he took too long to get his shot away, allowing a defender to make a last-ditch tackle.
Celtic’s defence was starting to show signs of nervousness and when a simple long ball released McCausland, the youngster’s shot was blocked before Hart had to make a good save low to his right to deny Cantwell.
McCausland was now asking questions of left-back Greg Taylor, and when the winger was found by John Lundstram on the right flank he managed to get a powerful shot away, with Hart again getting down to keep his side a goal ahead at the half-time interval.
With no substitutions made at the break, Rangers had it all to do and their task got even harder a couple of minutes after the restart when Kyogo doubled Celtic’s advantage.
Matt O’Riley found the Japanese striker with a pinged pass and, from just outside the penalty area, he whipped an accurate shot into the top left corner of Butland’s goal despite the 6ft 5 keeper getting his fingertips to it.
With a two-goal lead in place, Celtic had put themselves in a strong position in the contest and it was the visitors who had to find a way to get back into the match, with three league points slipping away.
But, with 20 minutes remaining, the sending off of Leon Balogun effectively ended Rangers’ chances of taking anything from the match - the Nigerian guilty of bringing down Daizen Maida as he sprinted through on goal. The big defender accepted the referee’s decision and could have no complaints as he walked towards the tunnel.
Rangers continued to battle until the end and they got their reward on 87 minutes to set up a tense finish. After Dessers was brought down in free-kick range, Tavernier stepped up and curled a stunning trademark finish past Hart.
CELTIC: Hart, A. Johnston, Taylor, Scales, Palma (Oh 82), Furuhashi (Abada 82), Bernardo (Turnbull 70), O’Riley, Maeda (M. Johnston 82), McGregor, Welsh (Nawrocki 35)
SUBS NOT USED: Bain, Yang, Hatate, Ralston
GOALS: Bernardo 25, Kyogo 57
BOOKED: A. Johnston, Bernardo, Riley, Turnbull, McGregor, Nawrocki
RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier, Yilmaz, Lundstram (Souttar 76), Goldson, Dessers, Cantwell (Dowell 68), Sima (Wright 69), Sterling, Balogun, McCausland
SUBS NOT USED: McCrorie, Lammers, Cifuentes, Matondo, King, Devine
GOALS: Tavernier 87
BOOKED: Sterling
RED CARD: Balogun
REF: Nick Walsh