It was the first day in September but it might have been May. The final whistle sounded and the Celtic fans erupted. Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin turned and headed straight down the tunnel. Philippe Clement approached referee John Beaton and … shook his hand. It wasn’t the officials that were the problem here. The Rangers manager knew he wasn’t able to get away with that.
Celtic skipper and man of the match Callum McGregor led his teammates round the stadium. Kyogo Furuhashi, who scored once and might have had a hat-trick, frolicked in the corner with the Green Brigade. It felt for all the world like a party and the first leaves of Autumn are yet to fall. The Tannoy man played Roll With It, with its pointed line – as far as Rangers are concerned – about it being “all too much for me to take”. The Ibrox side look done and the harvest moon has still to form in the sky.Glasgow, the dear green place, is Celtic’s. Although Brendan Rodgers was at great pains to stress that nothing is won at this stage of the season this was, in the ancient sweep of Old Firm history, a meaningful result. An epic one, even. It nudges Celtic ahead of their rivals in the great Old Firm storyboard – 170 wins to 169.
