Celtic bounce back from goal down to draw 1-1 with Rangers at Ibrox in Old Firm derby

Celtic fought back from a goal down to deny Rangers a third consecutive derby victory in a 1-1 draw at Ibrox.

Cyriel Dessers gave Rangers the lead just before half-time when he shrugged off Liam Scales and tucked a low shot past Vijami Sinisalo.

But Celtic drew level just before the hour mark when Adam Idah’s powerful shot found the back of the net via a deflection off John Souttar.

The goal maintained Premiership winners Celtic’s 17-point lead over their rivals in the league table and means Rangers have yet to win at home under interim boss Barry Ferguson. The team’s run without a home win stretched back to February 2.

Ferguson had challenged his side to show a big improvement on their draw at St Mirren last season and he made four changes to his side, bringing Leon Balogun, Connor Barron, Nedim Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny in for Clinton Nsiala, Robin Propper, Bailey Rice and Hamza Igamane.

Celtic started with Anthony Ralston, James Forrest and Adam Idah in for injured Alistair Johnston, Nicolas Kuhn and Jota.

Rangers almost had the perfect start. A corner in the second minute allowed James Tavernier to deliver a dead ball opportunity and he picked out Leon Balogun, who crashed a header off the bar.

The home side enjoyed the best of the early chances, and Cerny forced Viljami Sinisalo into a save before Nico Raskin had a header saved.

Raskin thought he had opened the scoring after 24 minutes when he nodded in from a corner but a VAR review showed he had strayed offside and the game remained goalless.

Rangers took the lead just before half-time. Goalkeeper Liam Kelly had denied Idah when the striker was through on goal and the hosts countered. Mohamed Diomande drove through midfield and played a ball into Dessers who finished neatly past Sinisalo to spark celebrations from the home crowd.

Celtic pulled level in the 56th minute.

Daizen Maeda got the better of Tavernier and broke into the box and though he couldn’t deliver, an attempted clearance came off him and fell to Idah. The striker held off a challenge and turned, rifling in a shot that took a deflection before flying past Kelly. Celebrations were put on hold until a VAR check ruled out offside and the score was confirmed as 1-1.

Neither side could find the edge that would deliver a winner, but Celtic came closest in the final seconds of injury time when Maeda raced clear of Tavernier again, but was thwarted by Kelly to ensure the rivals took a point each.