How the players rated in the Old Firm derby

The Light Blues had the ball in the net twice in the first half but on both occasions the ‘goals’ were not allowed to stand – offside and a foul picked up by VAR – but Furuhashi could have scored twice before he fired the visitors in front just before the break.

After just four league fixtures, leaders Celtic are already four points ahead of their Old Firm rivals going into the international break and the spotlight will be on Beale, who must have heard the boos ring out at the final whistle.

For Northern Ireland-born Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, who was under some pressure himself after his team lost to Kilmarnock in the Viaplay Cup and then drew at home to St Johnstone, it was a return to the overwhelmingly positive derby results he enjoyed in his first spell as Parkhead boss.

Player ratings as follows:

RANGERS

Jack Butland – Pulled off an excellent save from Liel Abada. Beaten by the pace of Kyogo Furuhashi’s finish. 6

James Tavernier – Could not make his usual impact going forward but defended well. 6

Connor Goldson – Made an excellent block to deny Kyogo Furuhashi a goal. 6

John Souttar – Caught out once when taking the ball forward but was otherwise assured. 6

Dujon Sterling – Beaten on the inside by a pass which could have proved costly but otherwise stood up well to his first league start. 6

Ryan Jack – The midfielder had a quiet afternoon. 5

Nicolas Raskin – Set up a good chance late on for Sam Lammers. 7

Rabbi Matondo – Has found his form recently and had a couple of good runs but missed the target from a half chance with Joe Hart stranded. 6

Kemar Roofe – Took his goal well only to see it disallowed. 6

Cyriel Dessers – Looked like he had an assist after winning the ball and setting up Roofe but was penalised for a foul. 6

Substitutes

Danilo could not beat Joe Hart from a couple of good chances while Sam Lammers lost his footing after rounding the goalkeeper. Ridvan Yilmaz, Abdallah Sima and Tom Lawrence also came on as Rangers pushed for an equaliser in vain. 5

CELTIC

Joe Hart – Made two good saves from Danilo and was off his line quickly at other times. 7

Alistair Johnston – Still finding his groove after a lengthy absence but produced a solid display. 7

Gustaf Lagerbielke – Got a huge VAR decision after he dallied on the ball ahead of Roofe finding the net. Looked uncertain while dealing with some direct balls. 5

Liam Scales – Catapulted into the team in recent weeks by a string of injuries and took his chance with an excellent defensive display while looking assured on the ball. 8

Greg Taylor – Not been at his best this season but looked more confident as he delivered a strong performance. 7

Callum McGregor – Controlled the play for much of the first half and delivered an excellent ball for Liel Abada which might have led to a goal. 8

Matt O’Riley – Showed good awareness to set up the winner with a header. Looked after the ball well. 7

David Turnbull – Tidy enough in possession but could not make a major impact on proceedings. 6

Liel Abada – Looked a threat, setting up Kyogo Furuhashi for what looked an excellent chance and forcing an excellent second-half stop. 7

Kyogo Furuhashi – Lacked conviction at two excellent chances but turned it around as he buried his third with a first-time finish. His fifth goal in his last four starts against Rangers. 7

Daizen Maeda – Looked dangerous at times but his final ball let him down. 6

Substitutes

Yang Hyun-jun, Anthony Ralston and Odin Thiago Holm came on midway through the second half as Celtic were pinned back, although the latter made some impressive forays forward. Alexandro Bernabei looked a bit casual when he first came on, while Oh Hyeon-gyu made a mess of a promising counter-attack. 6