Celtic moved four points clear of bitter rivals Rangers heading into the international break after Kyogo Furuhashi’s volley at Ibrox clinched the Glasgow derby bragging rights.
Facing off against each other for the first time this season, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Beale went head-to-head and it was the Northern Irishman who celebrated his first victory over Rangers since returning to the Parkhead hotseat.
Any question marks surrounding Rodgers were put to bed with that statement win settled by Kyogo’s decisive moment on the stroke of half-time when he capitalised on some slack Gers defending to rifle home his sixth goal in five starts in the showpiece clash.
Celtic were let off the hook within the opening minute when Rabbi Matondo’s effort was disallowed for offside, before Kemar Roofe had another chopped off by referee Don Robertson for a contentious Cyriel Dessers’ foul on Gustaf Lagerbielke in the build-up.
Despite the presence of NO away fans in Govan, it was the Scottish champions who stood firm in the closing stages to move top-of-the-table.
Here’s our Celtic player ratings following the narrow victory:
Unused subs: Scott Bain (GK), Luis Palma, Yuki Kobayashi, Kwon Hyeok-kyu.
1. Celtic player ratings vs Rangers - gallery (GlaW)
Kyogo Furuhashi scores the only goal of the match for Celtic.
2. Joe Hart - 7/10
Looked a tad sluggish with the ball at his feet, but was off his line quickly on a few occasions and made two important save to deny Danilo in the second half.
3. Alistair Johnston - 6/10
A topsy-turvy afternoon for the Canadian, who showed good energy to break forward at times but was caught out of position defensively as well. Only his second appearance of the season and can be fairly satisfied with his display. Subbed. Photo: Craig Williamson - SNS Group
4. Gustaf Lagerbielke - 5/10
The Swede was making his Old Firm debut alongside Scales and struggled to get to grips with the game. Didn’t look comfortable playing out from the back. Slack in possession and decision making was questionable. Still has a lot to learn.