FOOTBALL: Rangers fall to ten-man Celtic in Old Firm derby defeat

Gers midfielder Josh Windass opened the scoring in the third minute following a nightmare mistake by returning Hoops defender Dedryck Boyata.

Parkhead midfielder Tom Rogic levelled eight minutes later before Portuguese winger Daniel Candeias restored the Light Blues’ lead with a powerful drive only to see Celtic striker Moussa Dembele equalise just before the break.

Hoops defender Jozo Simunovic was shown a straight red by referee Willie Collum for using an arm to brush off Gers striker Alfredo Morelos in the 56th minute.

It was left to Edouard, 20, on loan from Paris St Germain and on for James Forrest, to curl in the winner in the 69th minute and take the visitors nine points clear of the Gers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a game in hand.

Victory for Celtic was a statement win by the champions who had keeper Scott Bain making his debut after joining on loan from Dundee in January, in place of the injured Dorus de Vries.

Boyata was back after recovering from a groin complaint, Kristoffer Ajer moving to right-back.

On-loan Brighton winger Jamie Murphy and left-back Declan John both returned from injury for the home side while Wes Foderingham was back in goal.

It was Bain’s first game since October and effectively his first job was to pick the ball out the net.

The hesitant Boyata was robbed 35 yards from goal by Windass who drove in on goal and clipped the ball high past the Celtic debutant.

Gers’ early joy evaporated in the 11th minute when Rogic got away from midfielder Sean Goss and curled a drive from 20 yards past the flailing Foderingham.

Rangers defender David Bates, caught on the ankle by the Australian’s follow through, was taken from the field on a stretcher, replaced by Fabio Cardoso.

In the 25th minute Ajer headed a Callum McGregor corner back across goal and Simunovic moments before Rangers restored their lead.

Murphy’s pass down the flank for the ever-willing John and his lofted cross bypassed Morelos to Candeias who rifled a right-footed shot back across Bain and into the far corner of the net.

Celtic steadied again and put on the pressure with Foderingham making saves from Dembele and McGregor.

However, just before the interval a long ball from Celtic skipper Scott Brown under pressure from Candeias in his own half saw Dembele race past Gers defender Bruno Alves and lob Foderingham for the leveller.

It was a relatively quiet start to the second-half until Simunovic clashed with Morelos and was sent off, with stopper Jack Hendry soon coming on for Rogic as Rodgers reshuffled, Edouard coming on for Forrest.

With the numerical advantage Rangers went all out for the winner and in the 69th minute another Boyata mistake allowed Morelos through but Bain parried his angled-drive and the Hoops escaped.

Moments later, in a swift Celtic breakaway, Dembele played in fellow French striker Edouard and from just inside the box he stepped inside Goss before bending his shot past Foderingham.

The Parkhead side pulled out all the stops to defend their lead. In the 87th minute Windass’ shot was saved by Bain and the ball fell to Morelos, who somehow could only hit the post from close range and the ball fell kindly to the Celtic goalkeeper.

Celtic captain Scott Brown was delighted to silence Rangers, who came into the clash on the back of six successive wins, scoring 23 times.

He told Sky Sports: “They did a lot of talking before and we stayed quiet, we do our talking on the park.

“We stuck to our task and we defended really well overall.

“We always believed we could do it, no matter what. We believe we can win here all the time now.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said: “It was a great, immense performance.

“I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory, we made some mistakes in the first half but I still thought we were the better football side.

“Second-half, we go down to 10 men, but we have a plan for that - we work in training on the importance of staying calm and the shape within that and I thought the last 30 minutes demonstrated the tactical courage of the team and how we want to play with 10 men.”

On the sending off, the Northern Irishman added: “I can see why (referee) Willie (Collum) has given it.

“Normally, when the centre-half is coming across with the striker, he’s fighting for his space, it’s normally a straighter arm and there’s no drama. But when he catches him with his elbow, you can see why they give it.”

Rangers manager Murty said: “It’s incredibly tough, but we were punished by not doing the basics very well - passing the ball, shifting the ball and defending.

“We get a lift with the sending off and we didn’t show the quality, composure or tempo with the ball. We were happy to deliver the ball into the box rather than play through them.

“There are a few things in there we need to get better at.”