Ten-man Rangers put their financial worries to one side as they defeated Celtic 3-2 to deny their rivals, who had two players and manager Neil Lennon sent to the stands, a title party at Ibrox yesterday.

Celtic could have clinched the championship with a win but it was Rangers, boosted by the return of several players, that showed more desire to delay any celebrations.

After a period of sustained pressure Sone Aluko put Rangers ahead in the 11th minute with a superb solo goal before Cha Du-Ri saw red in the 29th minute for hauling down Lee Wallace on the edge of the box.

Lennon was sent to the stands during the break for a tirade against the officials and was soon joined by Victor Wanyama.

Substitute Andrew Little scored within seconds of coming on in the 72nd minute before Wallace added a third in the 77th minute.

Scott Brown pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 88th minute after Carlos Bocanegra was sent off for bringing down Celtic’s Georgios Samaras and Thomas Rogne headed in another two minutes into stoppage time.

Celtic remain 18 points clear of their rivals and could still clinch the title at Parkhead next Sunday.

At Ibrox, the Rangers players, spurred on by a vociferous home support, penned Celtic in their own half in the opening stages and their pressure paid off when Aluko gave the hosts the lead.

Aluko was causing the Celtic defence all sorts of problems and on 29 minutes he sent Wallace galloping down the left only for Cha to crudely halt him on the edge of the box... a challenge that earned the South Korean a straight red card.

Wanyama followed for a crude two-footed challenge on Steven Whittaker.

Little replaced Aluko in the 72nd minute and within a matter of seconds he had made it 2-0.

Rangers had their third just five minutes later when a quick break saw Celtic stretched at the back and Davis played in Wallace who smashed an angled shot under the helpless keeper.

Celtic pulled one back from the spot through Brown and Rogne added a second in stoppage time but Rangers held on for the win.


 P W D L F A Pts
Celtic 31 24 3 4 64 20 75
Rangers (-10) 31 21 4 6 60 23 57
Motherwell 31 16 6 9 41 35 54
Dundee Utd 31 12 10 9 51 40 46
St Johnstone 30 13 7 10 41 34 46
Hearts 31 12 6 13 36 31 42
Kilmarnock 31 8 13 10 34 44 37
Aberdeen 31 7 12 12 29 34 33
St Mirren 31 6 14 11 27 41 32
Inverness CT 30 8 7 15 34 50 31
Hibernian 31 5 8 18 30 59 23
Dunfermline 31 4 8 19 31 67 20

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