Celtic striker Adam Idah scored a second-half equaliser to deny Rangers a third successive Old Firm derby triumph in a 1-1 William Hill Premiership draw at Ibrox.
Rangers looked well placed to follow up their victories from January and March over Brendan Rodgers’ newly crowned champions when Cyriel Dessers struck just before the break.
But Idah hit back to make it six games in a row without a victory in all competitions for Rangers, who have now won just four of their 12 games under interim boss Barry Ferguson and none at home since February 2.
Ferguson made four changes to the team that started the 2-2 draw at St Mirren and switched to a midfield diamond as Clinton Nsiala, Robin Propper, Bailey Rice and Hamza Igamane made way for Leon Balogun, Connor Barron, Nedim Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny.
There were three enforced changes to the Celtic side who started the title-clinching 5-0 victory at Dundee United, with injured trio Alistair Johnston, Nicolas Kuhn and Jota replaced by Anthony Ralston, Adam Idah and James Forrest.
As had been indicated by the hosts in the build-up, there was no guard of honour from the Rangers players for their triumphant Celtic counterparts, but the title winners were roared on to the pitch by around 2,100 of their own supporters – the first time away fans were in attendance at a derby at Ibrox since the 2-2 draw in January 2023.
Rangers made a strong start and almost opened the scoring in the first minute when Balogun headed James Tavernier’s corner off the top of the bar. Cerny then saw a powerful deflected strike tipped over by Viljami Sinisalo before the Celtic keeper got down to block a Raskin header from another Tavernier delivery.
Rangers thought they had gone ahead in the 24th minute when Raskin again got his head to a Tavernier free-kick from the right and nodded beyond Sinisalo, but after some jubilant celebrations, the Belgian was eventually ruled to have strayed offside following a VAR check.
Celtic started to grow into the game as the half wore on and Cameron Carter-Vickers saw a header from Arne Engels’ corner pushed over by Liam Kelly in the 33rd minute. The Rangers goalkeeper had to make another save to deny Idah in the 43rd minute after the striker ran on to Reo Hatate’s pass and got himself clean through on goal.
It proved a pivotal moment as the home side took the lead a minute later. Mohamed Diomande drove forward and his pass into the box was dummied by Cerny for Dessers, who held off Liam Scales and slotted a low finish past Sinisalo from just outside the six-yard box.
Celtic got themselves level in the 56th minute. Daizen Maeda skinned Tavernier on the left and as Souttar came across to deal with the danger his clearance ricocheted off the Japanese and broke to Idah, who spun and fired home – with the aid of a deflection off Souttar – from just inside the box.
The goal was swiftly ruled out for offside against Maeda but eventually allowed to stand following a lengthy VAR check.
Celtic had a chance to win it at the death when Maeda seized on slackness from Tavernier to burst clear but Kelly did enough to ensure the final derby of the season ended in stalemate.
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