Double from McDonald sees Celtic take Old Firm spoils
Scott McDonald has enjoyed an impressive first season since his £7 million move from Motherwell
Sunday, 27, Apr 2008 09:02
Celtic have gone five points clear of Rangers after a dramatic 3-2 win in the Old Firm derby at Parkhead.
Scott McDonald netted a first-half double for the home side, while David Weir and Daniel Cousin levelled for Walter Smith's side.
But a penalty from Barry Robson 20 minutes from time sees the SPL champions increase their lead at the top of the table, but Rangers still have three games in hand.
In stoppage time, Steven Whittaker was sent off for two bookable offences to cap off a miserable day for the visitors.
In a pulsating game, the home side made the perfect start when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed into the path of McDonald who tucked the ball into the net on four minutes, although replays showed the Australian was offside.
Rangers came agonisingly close to a quick equaliser when Christian Dailly glanced his header inches away from Artur Boruc's left-hand post.
The visitors then stunned Celtic with two goals in the space of 12 minutes. First, defender Weir produced a bullet header from Steve Davies' corner on 17 minutes.
Then, another Davis corner saw midfielder Cousin out-jump his marker to power a header off the underside of the bar to make it 2-1.
Rangers appeared to sit back after grabbing the lead and were nearly punished when Dailly stabbed away Aidan McGeady's cross with McDonald poised to pull the trigger.
McDonald got his slice of luck four minutes before the break when his fierce shot struck Kirk Broadfoot and looped over the helpless Neil Alexander, giving the striker his 29th goal of the season.
Rangers looked disjointed in the second half, and looked to be feeling the affects from their Uefa Cup semi-final against Fiorentina on Thursday.
Vennegoor of Hesselink should have given the Hoops the lead but was not alert enough to connect with McDonald's square ball.
The visitors' best chance of the half fell to Nacho Novo on 68 minutes with the Spaniard's low shot whistling wide of the post.
Two minutes later, Strachan's men were awarded a penalty when Broadfoot was penalised for clambering over McDonald. Robson stepped up and fired his spot-kick down the middle to give his side the lead.
Robson nearly grabbed his second goal minutes later when his swerving corner rattled the post.
The midfielder continued to be involved in the thick of his action and was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when his cross hit Daily's hand.
In stoppage time Naismith was given his marching orders for hacking Shinsuke Nakamura, as the Hoops held on for back-to-back Old Firm victories.