Steven Gerrard felt Old Firm clubs demonstrated class with show of solidarity

Champions Rangers went into the Scottish Premiership encounter at the end of a tumultuous week in which they were knocked out of the Europa League by Slavia Prague with midfielder Glen Kamara claiming he was subject to a racist slur by Ondrej Kudela, which the Slavia player denied.

Celtic skipper Scott Brown had a quick word with Kamara in the build-up and the Hoops players, like their Ibrox counterparts, chose not to take the knee before kick-off in support of the Finland international.

Substitutes, management and backroom staff of both clubs stood along the touchline to highlight their support.

After Alfredo Morelos’s goal cancelled out Mohamed Elyounoussi’s opener to keep Rangers unbeaten in 33 league games and 20 points clear of their city rivals, Gers boss Gerrard said: “I thought it was a class touch from both clubs, everyone standing up and showing the support and getting behind it.

“So fair play to both clubs, it was really pleasing to see.

“I thought he (Glen) was faultless today, I thought he was really good.

“He gave exactly what we wanted him to give. He battled well, he passed it well and he helped us get a positive results so I am really pleased for Glen, he will go away now with his national team and focus on that.

“I thought it was a good game, I thought it was all set and ready for one team to grab it. I think the result suits us both, we are away from home.

“We have had a tough journey in term of physically and emotionally over the last couple of weeks and we are already champions. So this results suits us.

“We came here to win, if we can’t win, it is important we don’t lose and take the point and move on.”

Gerrard was pleased to see Colombia striker Morelos get his first goal against Celtic at the 15th time of asking.

He said: “I think it will be relief for him, first and foremost.

“He has had a lot of attempts to try and score here so for his own personal point of view, a positive moment for him and it helped us get a decent result.

“He has been magnificent in terms of his contribution, certainly of late, he has scored big goals at key times. So we are really happy with Alfredo.

“Normally he is travelling all round the world for internationals but he is staying behind and he will get some time with his family and be ready for the next game.”

While Rangers are only five league games away from being unbeaten the whole league season – as Celtic did in 2016/17 when they won the domestic treble – Gerrard described it a “sideshow”.

He said: “We know people are talking about it on the outside.

“I will give you a little glimpse of what is on the inside – it is all about the next game. It is a sideshow really.

“We will try to do it, we will do everything we can and that means we want to try and win every game. It will be tough, there are a lot of challenges out there.

“The priority now is the Scottish Cup, we want to try and do a double, try to win another trophy but it is also an opportunity for us to try certain players and try different things, give people game time.

“We will try and get both right.”

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