Celtic thrashes Rangers to take first derby spoils
Callum McGregor scored late on to seal Celtic's 3-0 victory over Rangers in the season's first Old Firm Derby at Celtic Park, with Japanese duo Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi also on the scoresheet in a dominant showing for the Scottish Premiership champion.
Rangers' best chance came inside 10 minutes, with James Tavernier picking out Rabbi Matondo, who thumped his header wide from the edge of the six-yard box.
Cyriel Dessers also had oportunities for the visitors, but wasted them as the Light Blues ended the day fourth on the table and five points adrift of their bitter rival.
Kyogo thought he had broken the deadlock 11 minutes in, but his clinical finish was disallowed as Nicolas Kuhn had drifted millimetres offside before teeing up the Japanese.
Maeda's close-range effort did count in the 17th minute, with Alistair Johnson drifting in behind Rangers' defence to set him up for a tap-in.
Kyogo would get on the scoresheet just before the break, driving a precise low shot past Jack Butland from 30 yards out to put Celtic in control at half-time.
McGregor added gloss in the 75th minute after Dessiers had again spurned an excellent opportunity to get Rangers back into the game.
The Celtic captain scored in a third straight game as his long-range strike deflected past Butland into the far side of the Ragers goal.
Celtic maintained its perfect start to the season, with the Bhoys yet to concede after four games, and Kasper Schmeichel only had three saves to make in this one.
But it was more misery for Gers boss Philippe Clement, who has now failed to win an Old Firm Derby in five attempts in all competitions – one draw, four losses.
Graeme Murty – also five – and William Wilton with eight are the only other previous Rangers coaches not to win any of their first five games against Celtic.
Since the start of 2022-2023, Rangers has lost all five of its away games against Celtic.
That happened most recently in April 1980, leaving the blue half of Glasgow still with much work to do if it is to mount a serious challenge for the title.
