Key events
71 min: Moore with yet another free-kick into the Celtic box – it’s behind Raskin who tries to twist and fire the ball at goal, but Sinisalo easily catches.
69 min: The tackles are flying in! Naderi with a sublime one to stop Araujo. The intensity it ratcheting up here.
68 min: It opens up briefly for Rangers but Trusty, once more, is in the right place to block the attempt at goal. There is just one Trusty on the pitch, right?
66 min: Sterling takes out Maeda as he dashes down the line – a clear foul cutting across him and a booking for the Rangers defender. Maeda has been lively.
65 mins: Djeidi Gassama is on for Rangers in place of Skov Olsen, who couldn’t find his crossing radar today. Sinisalo comes out to clear again and does.
63 min: Rangers are probing but Sterling plays a ball directly out of play. He clasps his face after such a basic human error – I know the feeling, Dujon.
61 min: Another Rangers dead-ball opportunity. Skov Olsen’s lofted delivery really isn’t quite threatening enough. Celtic win the ball back – but can they keep it?
60 min: Sinisalo comes flying out to punch the ball clear and he does. Dane Murray is on for Celtic in place of Arthur.
58 min: An off-the ball coming together between Chermiti and Trusty leaves the Celtic defender on the deck grasping his leg. Chermiti was trying to slap the ball out of Trusty’s hand and catches his leg – nothing doing, really, but it leads to a bit of shoving between the two sides.
56 min: Double change for Celtic: Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cvancara are on, McCowan and Tounekti are off.
55 min: Butland comes out to claim the ball and clatters into Maeda! Both had to go for it but it’s a sore one for the Japan international. He gets up to run it off. Good to see.
53 min: A narrow escape for Celtic! Good cross from Moore, Fernandez rises high – a towering header – but it’s pinball in the box after the ball strikes a Rangers player and Celtic scramble it away.
52 min: Skov Olsen’s poor cross is cleared by the first man Maeda. Rangers pressing here, and they have a corner – Moore to take. Can he do better than Skov Olsen?
50 min: More excellent penalty box defending from Trusty, who’s been excellent so far this afternoon: he puts his body on the line twice to block Rangers’ attempts.
48 min: Brilliant from Sinisalo! He’s out so quickly after Benjamin Arthur’s error almost lets Chermiti in – however the Celtic goalkeeper is first to the ball and pelts it away.
47 min: A lovely Celtic passing move almost puts in Maeda but Rommens is there to clean up defensively.
46 min: Moore swings in a dangerous free-kick, Araujo does well defensively to just get a touch on it.
Second half begins
Rangers kick off and win a free-kick outside the Celtic box almost immediately.
No changes for either side that I can see as the two teams race back on to the pitch for the start of the second half.
Update: clearly my eyes are as good as some referee’s … A Rangers change: Tochi Chukwuani is on for Diomande, who had been booked.
A video on social media has shown some Celtic fans forcing their way into Ibrox pre-match. Not scenes anyone wants to see for obvious reasons. No reports so far of any issues inside the stadium, so let’s hope that’s the end of it.
An intriguing 45+1 mins that bubbled away but didn’t quite reach boiling point. Rangers had an early penalty shout for handball after the ball struck Trusty’s arm from close range. Celtic were ragged at the start but – to put a positive spin – defended well under pressure and had the ball in the net. But VAR intervened to silence the Broomloan Stand.
Half-time: Rangers 0-0 Celtic
We’re even-stevens at the break. Rangers with more of the play, especially early on, but Celtic thought they had the lead before Maeda’s clinical header was ruled out for an offside in the buildup.
45 min: A great reaction save from Sinisalo as Chermiti steals in! But the whistle had just sounded for offside anyway, so no matter.
44 min: Rangers have a free-kick near the halfway line, just one additional minute before the break.
42 min: … having said that, Rangers break, Sterling plays it in and danger man Chermiti tries a difficult finish inside the box. A tricky one for Chermiti who had a defender on him and was facing away from goal.
41 min: A Celtic throw-in deep in Rangers’ territory – but they work the ball back into midfield. The game has been much more even for the last 15 minutes at least, the visitors have come into it.
38 min: Maeda with pace to burn races through on goal – but Butland reads it and is out to claim the ball just in front of the Celtic forward.
37 min: Nasser Djiga sends a header just past the woodwork as Rangers look to double Celtic’s pain.
NO GOAL! Maeda’s header overturned
McCowan’s cross in, Scales touch and a diving header from Maeda at close range! Now, VAR will have a look at this for offside – and the rest – but will it stand?
It will not! Liam Scales, who’s flicked header set up Maeda, was coming back from an offside position. It was very tight.
32 min: Diomande goes down outside the Celtic area but no free-kick, Celtic on the attack – Yang has the ball in the Rangers’ box but Rommens gets it out for a corner.
30 min: It’s been half an hour at breakneck speed, as you’d expect. However not a great goalscoring chance as yet. Tuur Rommens and Julian Araujo go nose-to-nose after a challenge but it’s (relatively) good-natured.
Maeda closes down Butland who just gets the ball away! Maeda has been doing that all game to be fair. The Rangers keeper has to be on his toes.
28 min: A second Celtic corner after the first is put out, McCowan’s cross is better but it’s still away. Rangers tussle the ball back – look to break but Tounekti does well to regain possession. A bit of end-to-end stuff!
27 min: Scales swings in a cross, Maeda is the target but Djiga puts it out for a Celtic corner.
25 min: A Rangers corner, Skov Olsen swings it in but Scales thumps it away. Nygren looks to break but he’s fouled by Mikey Moore. No yellow card on this occasion. A lucky escape?
23 min: Celtic with some possession at last. They stroke the ball around, Tounekti getting some of the ball on the left. However Rangers soon snaffle the ball back.
21 min: Liam Scales is in the book after a clumsy challenge – Moore is taking the free-kick from the left, a good area … but it’s just too high for Fernandez and Chermiti.
19 min: Moore crosses into the box in a dangerous position but Trusty gets the ball away – just about! It’s Rangers looking the more likely so far.
18 min: It’s gone a bit scrappy with neither side able to get any passing going. Scales has been putting in some challenges to break up Rangers’ play.
15 min: Celtic try to break through the middle but Nygren is outnumbered. Rangers back in possession but Scales wins it back.
13 min: Maeda takes on Djiga on the wing but it’s the Rangers defender who comes out on top. The hosts probe for openings but Hatate heads the ball out for a corner. Celtic struggling to keep the ball.
11 min: A Rangers through ball from Raskin is just too long for Chermiti. He’s clearly the attacker the hosts are looking for.
9 min: Breathless stuff as you’d expect. Rangers with the best half-openings thus far but Celtic coping better that they did last weekend.
6 min: A Chermiti shot strikes the arm of Auston Trusty inside the box! Rangers players want a penalty but there’s no referee’s whistle. VAR have looked at it and decided that Trusty’s arm was close to his body – and perhaps the shot was too close to the defender for him to be responsible. That could well be a talking point.
4 min: Chermiti sniffs and opening! But it’s quickly closed down by Celtic’s defence. He’s rubbing his ankle after the challenge – no sense it was a foul – Chermiti couldn’t get a shot away but Rangers are pressing.
3 min: The first Rangers attacking move, Tuur Rommens can’t keep the ball in play after a crossfield pass.
2 min: Celtic ping the ball around and Mohamed Diomande goes in for a tough tackle – and gets a yellow card early on. The home crowd do not like that one bit.
Kick-off
Celtic get the ball rolling! The players can presumably hear the referee’s whistle, then. Well done.
Well, Tina Turner’s The Best is blaring out, which can mean only one thing: here comes Chris Eubank Sr Rangers on to the pitch with Celtic alongside. It is absolutely raucous at Ibrox. Flags, flares, the lot.
“This should be a great Old Firm, no?” says an Jeremy Boyce, an enthused Leeds fan, who I will blame if it’s a turgid draw. His prediction for today is a 3-2 victory to Rangers. I am just the messenger. He adds:
“The Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink article is a great read. He was a genius player and is clearly a deep thinker. Of course he played at Leeds, a club with a NastyBad Rep (see Lee Bowyer, Jonathan Woodgate) at that time but, like Tony Yeboah, was acclaimed by the ‘ard nuts in the stands.”
Simon McMahon, who has a Tangerines leaning, has emailed re. how open the Scottish Cup is at this stage:
“The last four of Falkirk, Dunfermline, St Mirren or Partick, Celtic or Rangers, makes Dundee United’s defeat at the Falkirk Stadium on Friday night all the more galling. A genuine chance to win the Scottish Cup for only the third time squandered to a team who were in Scottish League One two years ago. The Tangerines never really recovered from a dreadful start, two down after 20 minutes, though we still had chances to at least take it to extra time. Still, I’m over it now. Not over it. Hoping for a mountain of red cards goals at Ibrox.”
Ah, that footballing what-ifs! I know them well, Simon, and feel your pain.
Danny Röhl has has his say on Rangers’ changes. “Nasser [Djiga] comes in, he’s trained really well and he deserves to play,” he tells the Beeb. “We defend as a group. It’s not about a single person … We’ve spoken on the good things [from the 2-2 draw with Celtic], what the opponent did, how we have to adjust. We are ready. We built up our energy, we trained outstandingly.”
I suppose Danny was never going to say they trained appallingly, but he’s sounding very chipper.
Martin O’Neill has chimed in on the absence of Callum McGregor, confirming to BBC Scotland that: “It is [an injury]. He was feeling pretty sore by the end of the Aberdeen game and he’s just not recovered in time.
“It’s a blow for us. He’s a captain in every aspect of it. Both a leader in the dressing room and on the field and he’ll be a big miss for us. Things like this happen in football and you’ve got to get on with it.” At least, from a Celtic perspective, it does not sound like a long-term issue – he has an achilles injury last season and O’Neill hinted it could be something similar.
Fans are filling Ibrox with 25 minutes to go before kick-off: a reminder that this is the biggest away support in eight years at an Old Firm fixture, so it should be some atmosphere.
Nygen is Celtic’s biggest goal threat this season but it’s Youssef Chermiti – the Rangers top scorer – who has been catching the eye of late.
The Portuguese is earning a reputation as a big-game hunter with eight goals in his last four matches against Celtic and Hearts. Plus that overhead kick last weekend was a bit special. The visitors cannot say they haven’t been warned.
Benjamin Nygren, Celtics’s Swede, does a reverse Sven-Göran Eriksson (he of the ‘first half good; second half not so good’) when assessing the last game against Rangers. “It wasn’t a great first half, but I think it was a very good second half, so we need to build from that,” he tells Premier Sports.
Rangers dominated the early going before falling away last weekend. The question for the hosts is how do they keep up the intensity for a full match. For Celtic the late goals and fightbacks are impressive – but the visitors will know they can’t keep giving up the initiative in games.
What have the managers had to say in the buildup to today’s match?
“I don’t think it [Sunday’s game] would have a serious bearing on the title, but in terms of confidence building, of course, those things always matter,” said Martin O’Neill, the wily old stager.
Danny Röhl reckons that Rangers go into this cup tie with belief, despite the pain of losing a two-goal lead last weekend. “We spoke about the good things, we spoke about the things we have to improve,” he said this week.
“We go with the belief, we go with the trust. I think this is very crucial, especially the 50 minutes … I think this is the focus where we are and what we want to do over 90 minutes, of course, or 95 and if it’s necessary over 120 minutes. I think this is crucial.”
So, no Callum McGregor – and no Kieran Tierney – for Celtic. The left-back came off against Aberdeen and clearly hasn’t recovered in time; no captain in McGregor for the visitors is a big blow.
Two changes for Rangers from the last Old Firm game: Chukwuani and Souttar coming out of the starting XI.
The teams
Rangers: Butland, Sterling, Djiga, Fernandez, Rommens, Raskin, Diomande, Skov Olsen, Moore, Naderi, Chermiti.
Subs: Kelly, Meghoma, Souttar, Tavernier, Chukwuani, Bajrami, Gassama, Asgaard, Miovski.
Celtic: Sinisalo, Araujo, Scales, Trusty, Arthur, Nygren, McCowan, Tounekti, Yang, Hatate, Maeda.
Subs: Doohan, Donovan, Murray, Saracchi, Bernardo, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mvuka, Cvancara, Forrest
Referee: Don Robertson
VAR: Andrew Dallas
Preamble
Rangers against Celtic in a knockout tie is always a seismic game for both clubs but you get the feeling there is something extra riding on this one. It won’t be a popular talking point in Glasgow, but with Hearts atop the Premiership table, the Scottish Cup might represent each club’s best chance of ensuring they don’t end up trophyless come the end of this campaign.
So far this season it could hardly be more even – two draws (including an enthralling 2-2 at Ibrox a week ago) and a 3-1 win apiece. The two teams are also separated by just one point in the league with Celtic in second, just ahead of Rangers in third.
Danny Röhl’s hosts have had a week to prepare for this quarter-final while Celtic played in midweek, winning 2-1 in Aberdeen, but Martin O’Neill’s side will be boosted by a sizable support this afternoon. Scottish Cup allocation rules mean the away side gets up to 20% of tickets, so 7,500 Celtic fans will be filling the Broomloan Stand.
That should make for an even more boisterous atmosphere than usual, particularly with a place at Hampden on the line. Who will join Falkirk and Dunfermline in the last four of the cup? Find out with kick-off at 1pm GMT.
