[DavidMc]

Rangers 1-0 Celtic

Kevin Thomson picked an opportune moment to score his first goal for Rangers as they went six points clear of Celtic at the top of the SPL.

Celtic settled first and Scott Brown squandered two superb chances when his control twice deserted him in the box.

On 44 minutes Thomson played a clever one-two with Jean-Claude Darcheville before tucking the ball under Artur Boruc to give the home side the lead.

Allan McGregor made a great save from Andreas Hinkel to keep Rangers ahead.

Barry Ferguson, McGregor, Christian Dailly and Lee McCulloch all returned from injury after missing Scotland's friendly against Croatia in midweek.

Frenchman Jean-Claude Darcheville made his Old Firm debut as the lone striker.

But his striking counterpart Scott McDonald was left on the bench by Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, with Georgios Samaras partnering Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink up front.

Straight from kick-off Boruc launched a huge punt aimed at the head of Vennegoor of Hesselink as Celtic indicated how they were set to play.

It was a typically frantic, disjointed and mostly aerial battle from the start with both sides engaging in an extended game of heady tennis.

The spritely Aiden McGeady provided Celtic with the first proper chance of the match after five minutes.

The winger spun past Kirk Broadfoot and left the Rangers right-back trailing in his wake before curling a menacing cross into the box, but Vennegoor of Hesselink failed to connect.

At the other end McCulloch rose above the Celtic defence to meet Thomson's floated free-kick but his header flashed narrowly wide of Boruc's left-hand post.

Samaras had the first shot on goal for either team after 18 minutes but his 20-yard daisy-cutter trundled into McGregor's arms.

The visitors were enjoying marginally the better of the early possession without posing any real threat until Samaras threaded a neat ball into the path of Brown in the Rangers box.

The midfielder found himself clean through on McGregor but as he attempted to shoot the ball got caught under his feet and the Rangers keeper did well to scramble the ball away.

Brown ghosted in at the Rangers back-post after 32 minutes, latching onto Samaras' weak header, but he was again thwarted by McGregor.

Rangers were dangerous on the counter-attack and created a flurry of chances in the space of the four minutes approaching half-time.

First Carlos Cuellar had a header cleared off the line, then Ferguson's snap-shot from 12 yards was saved by Boruc.

A quick Celtic break saw Brown in space inside the Rangers box but again his touch let him down and Rangers punished the mistake, countering at speed.

The impressive Thomson gathered the ball on the edge of the Celtic penalty area and ran towards goal.

He prodded the ball through to Jean-Claude Darcheville, who timed his return pass to perfection; Thomson ran onto it and swept the ball low under Boruc for a classy finish.

Rangers sought to extend their lead five minutes into the second half, Steve Davis setting up Ferguson 20 yards out.

But Gary Caldwell stepped in to deflect his effort wide for a corner.

The Ibrox side were spraying the ball about with confidence as Celtic struggled to get hold of the ball.

Samaras streaked past David Weir after 58 minutes as Celtic made a rare foray into the Rangers danger area.

The Greek striker won a corner which was cleared easily and then jousted in the air with Cuellar from Lee Naylor's teasing centre but the move eventually fizzled out.

Hinkel brought out an athletic save from McGregor after 64 minutes when he unleashed a rising shot from 25 yards.

McGregor leapt to tip the ball over the bar to keep Rangers ahead.

Rangers substitute Nacho Novo twice broke clear in the final 10 minutes but Boruc was equal to his rifled efforts.

Charlie Adam almost put the match beyond Celtic with minutes to go with a snap-shot from the edge of the box but Boruc again denied Rangers.

Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Whittaker, Dailly, Thomson (Adam 77), Davis (Naismith 80), Ferguson, McCulloch, Darcheville (Novo 68). Subs Not Used: Alexander, Boyd, Furman, McMillan.

Booked: Thomson, Dailly, Naismith.

Goals: Thomson 45.

Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Scott Brown, Hartley (Robson 81), McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink (McDonald 79), Samaras. Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Wilson, Sno, Donati, O'Dea.

Booked: Vennegoor of Hesselink, McManus, Naylor, Boruc, Scott Brown.

Att: 50,325