There were heated scenes after the final whistle at Ibrox as Celtic fought back from two goals behind to secure a 2-2 draw with Old Firm adversaries Rangers on Sunday. Emotions spilled over at full-time, with pushing and shoving involving players from both sides.
Mikey Moore shoved Julian Araujo and furiously jabbed a finger toward the Mexican, while Nicolas Raskin and Liam Scales squared up to one another. Tuur Rommens and Tomas Cvancara also confronted each other in front of the cameras before Celtic manager Martin O’Neill – celebrating his 74th birthday – hurried toward the centre circle to defuse the situation.
O’Neill ushered Cvancara, Dane Murray and scorer Reo Hatate away as Celtic icon Chris Sutton quipped on Sky Sports commentary: “He shouldn’t be doing that at his age!” The Irishman was heard yelling “get away, get away!” at his squad before they made their way over to the travelling support to show their appreciation.
Rangers were 2-0 ahead at the break thanks to Youssef Chermiti’s double, which featured a stunning overhead effort just eight minutes into the contest.
However, Kieran Tierney reduced the arrears before the hour, and Hatate netted a fortunate 91st-minute follow-up after seeing his penalty, and then the initial rebound, both denied by Jack Butland.
The outcome leaves Hearts six points clear at the summit of the Scottish Premiership standings, with Rangers in second and Celtic two points behind the Gers in third, albeit with a game in hand.