Rangers remained calm as they took a giant step towards the title
Rangers supporters may have celebrated wildly in their living rooms, but it was a different story on the sidelines.
Steven Gerrard remained stoic on the final whistle despite his side taking a massive step towards ending Celtic’s domestic dominance.
Callum McGregor’s own goal saw Rangers move 19 points ahead of their rivals, having won 20 of their opening 22 Premiership fixtures.
Gerrard celebrated wildly when his side won 2-1 at Celtic Park in December 2019, but Rangers went on to suffer a catastrophic slump following their trip to Dubai and Neil Lennon’s men were eventually named champions after accumulating a 13-point lead.
The Rangers boss is clearly adopting a different approach this season, and kept calm after his third consecutive derby victory.
That reaction met with the approval of former Ibrox star Andy Gray, who had feared Gerrard might reprise his jubilant display from 2019.
Speaking on beIN SPORTS, Gray said: “I like Steven’s lack of celebration. I was waiting for the end of the game and I thought ‘Please don’t jump up and punch the air as if it’s done’, but it’s very difficult for me to say it’s not done.
“It isn’t done. Listen, you want get anyone at that club thinking that they’ve won the league. publicly.
“But Rangers would have to, and I mean collapse. It would be a collapse the likes of which a lot of them wouldn’t recover from.
“I expect my team to go on and win the title this year. I expect it after today.
“I thought it was a massive day.”
Alluding to the disappointing performance from Gerrard’s side in a first half that saw Celtic repeatedly denied by Allan McGregor, Gray said: “I’ve texted a few people back in Scotland, of course I did, back in the UK, Rangers supporters, and they were a little disappointed.
“I said ‘Listen, today was not about performance’.
“Sometimes you play a football match and the day is about the result. Cup final for me. I’ve always believed cup finals are there for winning, not for playing great and getting beat. They’re there for winning.
“Today was like that for Rangers. It was a day that you don’t need to perform as long as you get the result required, and that was a great result with Rangers playing poorly.
“It’ll be interesting to hear what Steven has said after the game, because I think he’ll probably think that’s as bad as they’ve played all season.”
Rangers continue their title bid on Sunday January 10 when they face Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
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