Georgios Samaras inspired Celtic to a 2-0 victory over favourites Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday, 2nd January 2011, by scoring twice in the second half in a thrilling Old Firm SPL encounter.
Rangers had perhaps the better of the opening half, but, other than a headed clearance off the Celtic line, there were few chances in a tight opening 45.
The game came alive on 62 minutes, however, when Rangers lost possession deep in Celtic territory, as Foster misplaced a pass straight to Joe Ledley. One long ball from the Celtic man went perfectly into the path of Samaras and Rangers keeper McGregor took the decision to come out of his area to challenge the hoops’ forward. One touch took Samaras round McGregor, and a cool left footed finish did the rest. 1-0 Celtic.
Eight minutes later and Samaras produced a stunning run past his man on the opposite flank, before cutting inside and bursting into the penalty area. A touch round Madjid Bougherra encouraged the defender to push out a leg, which brought down Samaras for a clear penalty, which he promptly got up and struck into the bottom right corner.
Rangers could have come back into this match had they been awarded a penalty of their own minutes later, when Lafferty appeared to have been brought down by Wilson, though the decision, and the match, eluded the Gers.
The result, Celtic’s first SPL win at the home of their bitter rivals since December 2008, means that Celtic are now four points clear at the top of the league, though Rangers, still clear favourites for the title, have two games in hand, in second.