Scottish Premier League: Rangers 4 Celtic 2

Rangers extended their lead over rivals Celtic to four points in the Scottish Premier League with a 4-2 Old Firm win at Ibrox on Sunday.

The hosts led courtesy of Steven Naismith’s wonder strike from range on 22 minutes, which came from a poor Celtic clearance.

But Neil Lennon’s men hit back twice before the break – firstly via Gary Hooper’s curling effort on 34 minutes, before Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor handed the visitors the lead when he let through a tame shot from Badr El Kaddouri four minutes prior to the break.

Rangers were not to be denied as they finally got level when a corner from the right wing by Steven Davis found the head of Nikica Jelavic, who rose above the Celtic defence to power the ball into the net.

Celtic nearly regained the lead as Charles Mulgrew swung a corner from the right onto the head of Glenn Loovens, whose header cannoned off McGregor’s right hand post and away from danger.

The game then raced to the other end, where the Ibrox side got back into the lead as a cross from Gregg Wylde, in search of Jelavic, was half-cleared by Mulgrew to the feet of Kyle Lafferty, who after failing with his first attempt, steadied himself and powered the ball past Fraser Forster at the second to hand Rangers the advantage.

With just over 15 minutes remaining, Celtic were reduced to 10 men as Mulgrew slid in on Steven Davis and referee Craig Thomson showed the full-back his second yellow card to leave the Hoops a man short and a goal down going into the closing stages of the derby.

Both sides continued to press on at a frantic pace for the remainder, before Rangers topped off their success with an injury-time sealer from Naismith.

Rangers moved to 19 points from seven games, and remain the only unbeaten side in the SPL this campaign, while Celtic are second on 15 points, also after seven fixtures.