Mark Atkinson reports from Celtic Park after the final Old Firm derby of the season.
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00:00 Good afternoon from Celtic Park. Mark Atkinson, Scotsman Sports Editor here, having just watched
00:06 Celtic defeat Rangers 2-1 at Parkhead in the final Premiership Old Firm derby of the season.
00:12 With just two rounds of fixtures remaining, it's very much Celtic in control. They have
00:18 one and a half hands on the trophy after this win. They lead Rangers by six points and have
00:24 a superior goal difference now by seven goals. Following this win, it wasn't a convincing
00:30 victory for Celtic. They were never in danger really. They led 2-0 thanks to a goal from
00:36 Matt O'Reilly, swiftly followed by an own goal from John Lundstrom. And then afterwards,
00:40 Rangers got back into the game pretty much straight away, right on half-time through
00:43 Cyril Dessers, good goal from him. But then they shot themselves in the foot when John
00:47 Lundstrom was sent off just before stoppage time started. And that really meant that Celtic
00:52 were in complete control from the match in the second half. They got themselves a penalty,
00:55 which Matt O'Reilly missed about ten minutes into that second 45. And that probably killed
01:02 their momentum a little bit and made Celtic Park a more nervy place than it had to be.
01:06 Rangers, to their immense credit, really pushed to try and get an equaliser attempt. And they
01:11 had a couple of moments in the Celtic box, but nothing of real panic for Celtic. The
01:17 crowd got a bit jittery, but ultimately it looked like the hosts were more likely to
01:21 score than concede. They won 2-1, and in this place absolutely erupted. Celtic fans jubilant.
01:26 They know what this means. The title is all but theirs now. If they go to Kilmarnock on
01:31 Wednesday night and get just a point, they'll be champions officially. Of course, it could
01:35 happen 24 hours earlier. Rangers played Dundee at Ibrox, and should they fail to win, then
01:41 Celtic will be crowned champions without kicking a ball. Brendan Rodgers was a pretty happy,
01:48 chirpy man at full time. He led his players on a lap of honour around the stadium, of
01:53 course, just full of Celtic fans, no over-the-tail supports here. It really felt like a coronation,
01:59 a seismic moment for Rodgers, who's done well to bounce back from earlier in the season
02:03 when he and his team were criticised for their performances and result as they let Rangers
02:07 back into the title race. For Philippe Clermont and his players, naturally huge disappointment
02:13 for them, given that at one point they were in control of this title race. But ultimately
02:18 this game showed that Celtic have got more nous and probably more talent in the areas
02:23 of the pitch that really matter. Midfield in particular, Celtic's Callum McGregor captain
02:28 and Matterwelli were outstanding, while Rangers could not get close to them. John Lundstrom's
02:32 red card summed up a disappointing afternoon for him on a personal note. Mohamed Diamonde
02:38 also struggled to get to grips with Celtic. There's no doubt that this Rangers team will
02:42 learn from this, but when it comes down to the crunch, Celtic are going to become champions.
02:46 They're going to keep their trophy and it means that we go into the final dying embers
02:50 of the season with two matches to play in the Scottish Cup final. These two teams meet
02:54 again at Hampden and Celtic have definitely put their flag in the sand for that game.
02:58 It finished here at Celtic Park, Celtic 2, Rangers 1.
03:00 dangerous one.