Ecstasy and agony for Thomson as Rangers go six points clear with derby win

Kevin Thomson opened his goalscoring account for Rangers in style by claiming the only goal of the game in today's explosive Old Firm derby at Ibrox.

The midfielder experienced the ecstasy and agony of the famous fixture when he bagged the winner in a pulsating tussle before leaving the pitch on a stretcher late on.

Eight players were booked as Rangers claimed the points which now makes them red-hot favourites for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.

All Old Firm derbies are eagerly anticipated but this one even managed to overshadow George Burley's first game as Scotland manager, with the absence of four Rangers players sparking controversy and conspiracy theories throughout the week.

As expected, Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, Christian Dailly and goalkeeper Allan McGregor all recovered to start today's clash, with the introduction of Steven Whittaker for Sasa Papac the only change from the win over Hibernian.

Hoops duo Barry Robson and Scott McDonald both started on the bench for Celtic after also withdrawing from international duty through injury, with Paul Hartley and Georgios Samaras given the nod instead.

The statistics favoured Rangers before kick-off, who boasted a three-point lead at the summit of the SPL and a game in hand, as well as a 100% record in this fixture since Walter Smith's return 15 months ago.

With arguably more at stake for Celtic, it was the Scottish champions who dominated early on.

Aiden McGeady's pace left Kirk Broadfoot standing as the winger raced down the left flank before delivering a cross onto the head of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, but the Dutchman squandered the opportunity to give Celtic a dream start by nodding wide at the near post.

At the other end, McCulloch threw himself in front of a Thomson free-kick and drew gasps from the home crowd as his header whistled inches wide of the target.

Celtic cranked up the pressure another notch and dead ball specialist Shunsuke Nakamura stepped up for a free-kick a few yards outside of the area but the effort was poor by his standards and easily smothered by McGregor.

Scott Brown was then wasteful with two superb opportunities. He was released into the box by a lovely pass from Samaras but stumbled over the ball and his awkward shot came off the body of McGregor before being claimed by the Rangers goalkeeper.

The midfielder then saw a shot from a tight angle crash off the outside of the post, with Samaras again the provider. Brown was left rueing those missed chances when Rangers surged into the lead.

Artur Boruc had had little to do in the Celtic goal other than comfortably dealing with a Ferguson shot on the turn but he was left plucking the ball out of the back of the net on the stroke of half-time.

Thomson collected in the middle of the park before racing into the box and exchanging a one-two with Jean-Claude Darcheville before despatching an angled drive past Boruc from just outside the six-yard box.

Celtic emerged for the second half determined to restore parity but McGregor proved equal to everything they served up after the restart.

Vennegoor of Hesselink saw his header from a Nakamura free-kick held on the line, before the Gers number one pulled off a superb fingertip save to send a smart 25-yard shot from Andreas Hinkel over the crossbar.

The game came to a painful end for Thomson when he fell under challenge from Samaras on the edge of the box and he left the pitch on a stretcher, paving the way for Charlie Adam's introduction.

Rangers also threw Nacho Novo and Steven Naismith into the action for Darcheville and Steven Davis, while Celtic swapped Vennegoor of Hesselink and Hartley for McDonald and Robson in a bid to haul themselves back into the game.

Novo could have put the game beyond Celtic, latching onto Naismith's through ball only to see his swerving shot confidently plucked out of the air by Boruc, who then pulled off a fantastic save to deny Adam.

His efforts proved to be in vain though as Rangers held on for a crucial win.