Superior Celtic gi

He came, he saw, he strengthened his squad. Now, though, Steven Gerrard has learned that it will take a significant application of resources and will if Rangers are to close the gap on Celtic meaningfully.

The statistics of the first Old Firm derby of the season – and the muchanticipated encounter between Gerrard and Brendan Rodgers – favoured the champions, even if that was reflected by only a single goal on the afternoon, scored by Olivier Ntcham midway through the second half.

More significant, though, is the fact that Rangers have won only one of their first four league fixtures and have taken two points from a possible nine on the road against Aberdeen, Motherwell and Celtic in their worst league start for 29 years. They will get better and will probably not take long to improve their current standing as seventh in the Scottish Premiership table, but there is no magic bullet.

Gerrard was aggrieved by referee Willie Collum’s decision not to grant Rangers a free-kick for the challenge by Tom Rogic on Ryan Jack which set Celtic on the way to the winning goal. “It’s a foul. The referee has ignored it and they go and score,” he said.

That though, glosses over the damage that was averted by the Rangers crossbar, from which rebounded attempts by Ntcham, James Forrest and Dedryck Boyata, plus the clutch of saves by Allan Mcgregor that prevented Celtic’s margin burgeoning to the level of