The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ibrox derby swung on Gers switch
Steven Gerrard revealed how fate played a part in the interval decision which helped Rangers to their narrow 1-0 win over Celtic on Saturday.
The visitors dominated the first half at Ibrox and would have been ahead had it not been for the heroics of veteran goalkeeper Allan Mcgregor.
The Gers boss was considering an interval change in his attack and his hand was forced by an injury to Kemar Roofe.
Ianis Hagi took his place and there was a secondhalf improvement, although the key moment came in the 62nd minute when Parkhead defender Nir Bitton was sent off for hauling Gers striker Alfredo Morelos to the ground.
Celtic skipper Callum Mcgregor scored an own goal seven minutes later to leave Rangers 19 points clear of their Old Firm rivals at the top of the table, albeit having played three games more.
“It was on our mind in terms of myself and the coaching staff to make a change because we weren’t happy with the front three in the first 45 minutes,” Gerrard told Rangers TV.
“It was a stroke of luck really – not in terms of the injury as Kemar has a niggle in his quad which we will have to assess and hope he is back fit.
“But it actually played into my hands to get Ianis on to the pitch and I thought he was outstanding in the second half.
“Ianis takes on information really well and I thought he was really brave to receive the ball in the wide areas.
“Ianis basically produced in the second 45 we were looking for from our 10s in the whole game. So, credit to him, but it is a bit of a blow losing Kemar.”
Gerrard will have a look at why his side were outplayed by Celtic, especially in the first half, but insists his side are more than entitled to have an off day and still win.
He said: “I’ll analyse our performance and I’ ll go over it in fine detail as to the reasons why we weren’t ourselves in the first 45 and why we improved more.”
Celtic boss Neil Lennon is looking for a blemishfree record until the end of the season following the Ibrox defeat.
The Northern Irishman told C el tic’ s You Tube channel about his aims for the second half of the campaign.
He said: “We need to win the games in hand and take it from there. We just need to win every game from here on in as best we can.
“I am just frustrated that we maybe shot ourselves in the foot a bit in just one moment.
“J er emieF rim pong, David Turn bull, Ryan Christie and Callum Mcgregor were all outstanding for the first hour then we had to rejig things.
“But overall I am really proud of the players. They played very well.”
● Livingston moved up to fifth in the Premiership table with a 3- 0 win at Hibernian, their seventh successive victory under manager David Martindale since Gary Holt ’s resignation.
Josh Mullin’s emphatic ninth-minute opener and Jon Guthrie’s close-range finish ensured the result was never in serious doubt, with Ryan Porteous gifting a third to Scott Robinson after the break.
Martindale said of the winning run :“It’ s a phenomenal statistic and if you are comparing budgets – which I hate to do – then it’s a stat the boys should be massively proud of.”
Hamilton won 3-0 against managerless Motherwell, with Keith Lasley in caretaker charge after Stephen Robinson’s resignation.
Lee Hodson opened the scoring early on and Ross Callachan and substitute Callum Smith struck after the break.
“When there’s a change of manager it’s always a difficult time as a football club, particularly when we never had a lot of time to turn things round, a couple of days to process that information,” Lasley said.
“We have not been able to do that but next week is a new week, it gives us a full week to prepare the players and come Saturday provide a different performance.”
Danny Rogers’ late own goal denied Kilmarnock victory against St Mirren.
Danny Whitehall had opened the scoring as the match finished 1-1.