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On Saturday, five matches of the 8th round of the Scottish Premier League were played. In the Glasgow derby, Celtic, defending champions, won against Rangers and extended their lead over the rivals, Falkirk secured a surprising victory against Hibernian in Edinburgh, Dunfermline added three points to their tally, while two matches ended in a 1-1 draw.
The first Old Firm derby of the season was a baptism of fire for Rangers manager Paul Le Guen, while his counterpart Gordon Strachan chose former Rangers striker Kenny Miller instead of Maciej Zurawski and he did not disappoint. Scotland international player actively participated in the match and had the first opportunity to score, but failed to beat goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
Rangers threatened with Charlie Adam's penalty kick, but despite ball control in dangerous areas, the home team Celtic created more threatening attacks. McGregor had to first save a powerful shot from Shunsuke Nakamura and later another long-range attempt from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
K. Boyd also had a chance to score with a header from 9 meters, but in the second half, Celtic gained territorial advantage and in the 35th minute, after a pass from Neil Lennon, Aiden McGeady headed the ball into the net, and although the goalkeeper deflected his shot, Thomas Gravesen was there to head it in.
Later, A. McGeady almost scored himself, but his shot from 23 meters went over the crossbar. After the break, Rangers tried to equalize and in one of the away attacks after a wonderful pass by Barry Ferguson, K. Boyd was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he struggled with the ball and ultimately missed the target.
However, with Rangers increasing pressure, Celtic struck on a quick counterattack - A. McGeady broke through the middle of the field and with a precise pass set up K. Miller, who just had to beat his opponent and finally score his first goal to double the lead for the "green-whites".
However, Le Guen's players did not give up, and by lifting a corner, Dado Prso headed the ball from the goal line only for Lee Naylor to clear it, and after receiving a pass from the Croatian striker and turning around, K. Boyd took a shot that hit the crossbar, but the result remained the same and Celtic won the first Glasgow derby of the season, increasing their lead over Rangers to 7 points.
Since Aberdeen and Edinburgh Hearts will face each other on Sunday, Edinburgh Hibernian and Kilmarnock missed the opportunity to temporarily move up to second place. The city club convincingly defeated Rangers in the previous round but unexpectedly lost at home to Falkirk, while Kilmarnock also failed to win against Inverness at their home.
The match between Dundee Utd and Motherwell ended in a draw, with the latter team's goal scored by the on-loan Hearts striker Calum Elliot, while Dunfermline bounced back after conceding a goal against St. Mirren in the match and defeated their opponents in the second half for their second victory.
Results of the 8th round matches on Saturday:
2 - 0
35' [1 - 0] Thomas Gravesen
74' [2 - 0] Kenny Miller
1 - 1
61' [0 - 1] Calum Elliot
64' [1 - 1] Noel Hunt
2 - 1
10' [0 - 1] John Sutton
45' [1 - 1] Darren Young
73' [2 - 1] Stevie Crawford
0 - 1
9' [0 - 1] Kenny Milne
37' Kevin Thomson (Hibernian), 75' Stephen O'Donnell (Falkirk) sent off
1 - 1
7' [1 - 0] Colin Nish
19' [1 - 1] Craig Dargo
League table:
