The Rangers manager Steven Gerrard experienced his first away derby success since moving to Ibrox.
The former Celtic striker John Hartson has expressed his surprise at the way in which the Rangers manager Steven Gerrard celebrated his side’s Old Firm win on Sunday.
Goals from Ryan Kent and Nikola Katic, either side of Odsonne Edouard’s fortuitous equaliser, secured the points for Rangers, who can leapfrog Celtic at the top of the Premiership standings by winning their game in hand.
Understandably, Gerrard could not contain his delight at the final whistle.
And although he did acknowledge his opposite number, Neil Lennon, before going on to join his Rangers stars in front of the visiting fans, Gerrard should have done so a little differently, according to Hartson.
“Yeah, well listen, he’s absolutely thrilled with the win,” the Welshman told Talksport earlier. “It’s not easy to win at Celtic Park.
“(But) I thought the handshake was slightly wrong. I thought he just slapped Neil’s hand and he slapped (the Celtic assistant manager) John Kennedy’s hand and sort of walked away.
“I thought Stevie would have shook (their) hands, man-to-man, looked them in the eye. But he didn’t. It was almost like a high-five, a slap, and (he) walked away.
“It’s not criticism. He’s obviously delighted to get the three points. He felt his team played very well and that was the only thing I was a bit surprised about.”
Hartson went on to share his respect for Gerrard, whose playing career he paid close attention to as a boyhood Liverpool fan.
And the 44-year-old reasoned that Rangers’ recent lack of success against Celtic perhaps justified Gerrard’s exuberant reaction.
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