Rangers and Celtic ends in 'lunacy' as fans ignite tense pitch invasion and pyro launched in shocking scenes
Scenes unfolded at the end of the latest Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic.
Rangers and Celtic players were caught up in tense scenes at the end of the latest Old Firm as both sets of supporters stormed the pitch at Ibrox.
Fans on both sides drifted onto the pitch after Tomas Cvancara’s penalty sent Celtic to the Scottish Cup semi-final 4-2 on spot kicks, following a 0-0 draw at Ibrox. It was a return to Celtic fans filling the Broomloan Stand in capacity numbers but tensions and anger spilled over at the end of proceedings. Away attendances have been capped at recent Old Firm league fixtures.
Premier Sports commentator Rory Hamilton claimed a fan attacked a member of the Celtic coaching staff while pyrotechnics were scene on the broadcaster’s feed being thrown in the direction of supporters. Hamilton said: “There's another supporter that's just made it onto the pitch and now more and more are drifting on from the Rangers end.
What happened at the end of the Rangers vs Celtic?
“This threatens to get out of hand here. It's going to be a tough ask for the Police to keep control of this. I think it was one of the Celtic coaching staff that was attacked by an individual who's been huckled away by the police.
“There's a few flares that have been let off and thrown into the opposing supporters. It is an ugly, ugly end to what has been a superb game of football. There is absolutely no need. This is lunacy at the end of what has been such a great effort in terms of the game of football. This is ugly and they're exchanging flares, pyrotechnics going one way, then the other.
“It’s a terrible look. An incredible contest and it's just sad that we see these scenes to finish it off. The players who acted impeccably throughout the 120 minutes and the penalty shootouts. The players have got themselves out of there sensibly.
Michael Stewart on Rangers vs Celtic drama
“So now there are objects being exchanged and it had been seen as a triumph, the right decision, to have the full allocation of away supporters back. The response, Celtic celebrating their victory, the Rangers fans responding by coming on to Ibrox. They're now making their way off the field.”
Pundit Michael Stewart said: “Ugly scenes at the end but thankfully it's managed to calm down and not go any further, The game itself was drama-filled, right to the end. From Celtic's perspective, they'll be looking at it positively. They won the game the way they had to, missing a lot of key players. It was lacking in quality, absolutely. For Rangers, the challenge was to break down Celtic and they just couldn't do it.”
BBC Scotland’s Tom English said: “It looked like one of them threw a punch at someone in the Celtic staff. There were a few flares flying, a few missiles flying. Stewards and police desperately trying to bring order to this. They got it under control but 7,500 Celtic fans in, and you wonder when you are going to have it again. It was disgraceful.”