Rangers 3-3 Celtic: A goal after 21 seconds and another in the 93rd minute made it enthralling end-to-end
Rangers fought back from a two-goal half-time lead to draw 3-3 with Celtic as the Scottish Premiership title battle ignited at Ibrox.
Hoops attacker Daizen Maeda handed the visitors a shock lead after just 21 seconds which stunned the home side. The nervy Light Blues fell further down in the 34th minute as midfielder Matt O’Riley coolly converted a penalty after a VAR intervention.
Rangers improved after the half and skipper James Tavernier scored from the penalty in the 55th minute before attacker Cyriel Dessers had the ball in the net two minutes later only for an earlier infraction to rule out a goal.
Substitute Abdallah Sima equal in the 86th minute but a minute later Hoops substitute Adam Idah drove in for what looked like a thrilling victory only for Rangers replacement Rabbi Matondo to level in injury time for a share of the spoils which left Celtic one point ahead at the top.
Rangers have a game in hand against Dundee on Wednesday but have still to head to Celtic Park following the split with more twists probable.
The Gers’ left-back Ridvan Yilmaz could not show his fitness and Philippe Clement preferred utility player Dujon Sterling over Borna Barisic, while Tom Lawrence replaced Todd Cantwell. Celtic captain Callum McGregor was barely fit enough for the bench after recuperating from an Achilles ailment and he would have been as startled as anyone when the Hoops claimed an early lead.
Joe Hart’s long clearance flew past cautious Tavernier who tried to clear under pressure from Maeda but the ball bounced off the Japan forward and zipped low past goalie Jack Butland.
The Ibrox support was taken aback as were the players who were all over the place in the next minutes.
In the 24th minute a Mohamed Diomande corner was headed over by Connor Goldson before Butland made a wonderful save from a Maeda drive and then Reo Hatate blasted just wide from the outside of the box, bringing more jeers down from the bleachers.
Butland made an even better save from an O’Riley header on the half-hour mark and there was a VAR check for a probable Celtic penalty for a Goldson handball in the next attack.
When referee John Beaton reviewed his pitchside monitor at the demand of VAR Nick Walsh, he concluded the ball had impacted the centre-back’s elbow and pointed to the spot.
O’Riley dinked the ball down the middle and Butland dived the wrong way.
Just before the break Rangers forward Fabio Silva, who was having a terrible afternoon, had two chances from close range blocked but the boos rang out at the sound of Beaton’s half-time whistle.
Clement replaced winger Scott Wright with Sima for the start of the second half, where Silva was soon booked for diving inside the Celtic box after a challenge by Alistair Johnston.
Beaton, however, was again ordered by the VAR check to the screen and again he pointed to the spot – it looked an easy award – canceling out Silva’s yellow card and Tavernier blasted the ball high beyond Hart.
Then Dessers slammed in from close range following a goalmouth scramble but Beaton reviewed his monitor again and concluded Lawrence had fouled midfield opponent Tomoki Iwata in the build-up.
The mood inside Ibrox had shifted as Rangers went in search of an equaliser and it came with four minutes of normal time remaining when Sima picked up a clearance inside the Celtic box and shot high into the net via a deflection.
However, a moment later, Idah, on for Kyogo Furuhashi, received a pass from fellow substitute Paulo Bernardo and fired low past Butland.
But in the third of eight additional minutes, Matondo cut inside in the Celtic box and curled the ball high past Hart and Ibrox bounced for the last few minutes, while the final whistle saw players from both teams at loggerheads as tensions boiled over.