Gascoigne runs through repertoire

AS IF this ancient squabble needed any extra dimension, yesterday's instalment, for the first time in years, gave Celtic a crack at the enemy as an equal championship contender. Yet old failings still undermine their challenge in a match whose pattern showed why Rangers are not yet ready to be dethroned.

Dispite an embarrassment of possession the home side failed to create a single outstanding chance. Rangers in their more sparing use of the ball were ruthless, dismantling Celtic with two giddying counter-attacks in which Alex Cleland and Paul Gascoigne scored.

Europe in midweek was quickly forgotten in a match which was breathless in Britishness. Amid the panting hurtle between boxes which constituted the first half, only Paul McStay seemed capable of shaping the action. He almost picked the deadlock by releasing Rudi Vata who cut back to Simon Donnelly from the right. The youngster stepped past Ian Ferguson but had his shot deflected an inch over.

McStay's form also unhinged Gascoigne, who sought to assert himself through an series of ill-judged challenges. The sequence culminated on the half- hour when he dived at John Collins right in front of the jeering spectators in Celtic's new stand. The inevitable followed when Gascoigne connected with Collins in the same spot five minutes later and was booked.

But Gascoigne came back into it and after stretching Gordon Marshall with a crisp shot, he played the crucial pass for Rangers' first goal. The midfielder switched play from the centre circle to the right-wing during a Rangers break. He found Oleg Salenko whose centre was headed back across Marshall and into the net by Cleland.

Ten minutes after half-time the player completed a remarkable redemption. Ally McCoist appear to handle a clearance on the half-way line but was allowed to continue to the right-wing where he slid the ball inside. The Celtic defence stopped only to find Gascoigne had not, and the midfielder shot past Marshall.

Celtic pressed but the neat passing of their midfield and the work of two strikers, both of whom are more comfortable dropping off defences than poaching tended to halt at the edge of the box. Their best chance to salvage matters came from free-kicks in that area. First Pierre Van Hooijdonk had a curler tipped past by Goran then Collins lofted one just over.

Rangers' breaks continued to cause danger and with minutes remaining the score would have become all the more galling for Celtic had not John Hughes made a saving tackle on Salenko. "We were disorientated and found we weren't good enough," a terse Tommy Burns admitted.

With Mark Hateley departed to the Premiership and Collins certain to follow, possibly to Middlesborough, the derby will lack two of its main recent protagonists when the teams next meet. But as 25 exhausted footballers discovered, in this fixture there is little chance to stand still.