Nine-man Celtic made to wait for inevitable SPL success

Rangers 3-2 Celtic

A late comeback from nine-man Celtic wasn’t enough to avoid defeat in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox. But Celtic fans shouldn't fret too much; they’re still going to win the league.

The Hoops could have added insult to Rangers’ many, many injuries by sealing the SPL title this afternoon, but were badly off-colour and two late goals from Scott Brown and Thomas Rogne merely served to disguise what was a very underwhelming performance.

Sone Aluko put the hosts in front with an excellent solo effort after 11 minutes and if a one-goal deficit wasn’t bad enough, Celtic’s task was made even harder when Cha Du-Ri was sent off for a professional foul on Lee Wallace on the edge of the box before half-time.

Rangers took that lead into the break and their chances of victory were even further increased when Victor Wanyama was given an early bath for a reckless two-footed tackle on Steven Whittaker with over half an hour remaining.

Andrew Little doubled Rangers lead after 72 minutes and it was all over when Wallace made it three five minutes later.

Neil Lennon’s men rallied late on and got an equaliser from the penalty spot through Scott Brown after Carlos Bocanegra was dismissed for bringing down Georgios Samaras. They managed a second consolation when Thomas Rogne headed in Kris Commons’ free-kick in injury time, but it was too little, too late at that stage.

Rangers lapped up the celebrations afterwards, but it will only be a matter of time before Celtic are doing some celebrating of their own, barring a Jean Van de Velde-like collapse between now and the end of the season.

To ensure their SPL title success, they need to complete the rather arduous task of winning one of their remaining seven games. It’s in the bag, right?