Ryan Naderi strikes as Rangers beat Celtic again

Ryan Naderi scored in the 33rd minute at Celtic Park to give Rangers a 1-0 win and a second victory over Celtic in eight days. Celtic's lead in the Premiership is down to two points.

Naderi fired in on the rebound after Viljami Sinisalo had saved from Minsu Kim. It was Celtic's first league defeat of the season. It was also their third loss in a row, following the 3-0 League Cup defeat at Ibrox last Sunday and a loss to Ferencváros in the Europa League.

The crowd of 60,000 was all Celtic, as Ibrox had been all Rangers a week earlier. A dispute over ticket allocation had led the authorities to step in. The home supporters booed Celtic off at full time.

Rangers had a goal ruled out early, when Liam Scales headed in from a free-kick and was flagged offside. Celtic won a run of corners before Rangers settled. In the 27th minute Naderi's header from a Dan Neil cross went straight to Sinisalo, and Kieran Tierney then clipped the top of Ivor Pandur's crossbar at the other end.

Celtic did not test Pandur until after the break, when he kept out Colby Donovan's header. Olvetu Makhanja, the 22-year-old defender who joined Rangers this month, volleyed past Sinisalo, but VAR disallowed it for handball. Djeidi Gassama, the 23-year-old winger with 9 goals for Rangers, had earlier got in behind the defence and failed to finish. Rangers manager Derek McInnes's side will feel they should have added to the lead.

Martin O'Neill, 74, had said before the game that Celtic's confidence was not "rock bottom". After the League Cup defeat, captain Callum McGregor had called the side "a team of individuals".

Celtic now go into the international break under more pressure on O'Neill. If Rangers carry this form into the resumption, the lead they trail by could be gone within a fixture or two.