Celtic Are Seven Clear At The Top After Victory At Ibrox

Rangers 0 Celtic 1

Celtic reestablished their seven-point lead last weekend with a 1-0 victory over Old Firm rivals Rangers at Ibrox.

Scott McDonald's 58th minute strike was enough to secure the win though it needed some good work by 'keeper Artur Boruc to avoid an upset.

The early part of the game was worrying for Celtic fans: Davis shot wide in the fourth minute and only a goal-line foul by Broadfoot disallowed a goal after the ball was put into the Celtic net.

Rangers began the second-half aggressively but after Boruc saved a good shot on goal from Boyd, McDonald gave his team the lead in the 58th minute.

The goal came after a Caldwell pass was headed on to the Australian striker from Georgios Samatas, leaving McDonald open to shoot into the top corner of the net.

Manager Gordon Strachan was pleased with the resul;t saying., "It's a game where you only need two or three bits of brilliance from somebody, and the rest of it is headers, tackles and closing down. Fortunately, we had a bit of brilliance today.

"There were a lot of good footballers missing from the game. So, it just shows that you can play these games without top passing players.

"Both sides didn't have enough in their lockers to score a lot of goals today.

"It was a terrific goal from Scott. And, when he was needed, Boruc made a great save."

In the weekend before Christmas, Celtic dealt easily with the challenge of Falkirk, beating the Bairns 3-0 despite the absence of Aiden McGeady (due to suspension) and captain Stephen McManus, who was out injured.

New Bhoy Kouki Mizuno scored in his first start for the club, while the other two goals were provided by McDonald and Samaras.

Celtic have confirmed that they have signed the Czech Republic's Under-20 defender Milan Misun from FK Pribram

According to a statment from the club, the 18-year-old left-back has signed a four-year contract.

"It's a tremendous honour to sign for a club of Celtic's stature," Misun told Celtic's website.

"I know that there are some quality players at Celtic and I will need to work extremely had to break into the first team."

"We are delighted to complete the signing of Milan Misun," added manager Gordon Strachan.

"He is a young man with certainly a lot of potential and we will be doing all we can to maximise his potential and try and ensure that he is a success at Celtic."

The confirmation of Misun's signing came shortly after the news broke that Dundee United's goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Celtic.

The 26-year-old Pole rejected an offer to extend his time at Tannadice and will leave as a free agent at the end of the season.

"I have ambition to play at the highest level and a move like this would make that possible," he said.

"I have been in the United team for a year now and I think I am ready for a step up."

Dundee United's manager Craig Levein was less sanguine about the announcement, telling BBC Sport that, "He refused what was our best offer and intimated that he'd been offered far more money elsewhere.

"I know the type of money they are talking about and it's ridiculously high compared to what we're offering.

"It's a short career - I know that myself having had injuries.

"But, in all honesty, I believe that football-wise it's not a good decision for him. I don't think he's going there as the number one goalkeeper.

"He''s only played maybe 40 or 50 games for Dundee United and he hasn't got a lot of experience.

"It's obviously a big feather in his cap that Celtic see him as someone capable and there comes a point when a figure is mentioned that makes it worthwhile sitting on the bench," he concluded.

Bundesliga outfit Hannover 96 have warned Celtic Szabolcs Huszti is not available for transfer, though they did not rule out a loan of the 25-year-old Hungarian midfielder.

Their statement followed the news that Gordon Strachan was hoping to begin negotiations for Huszti this month.

But Hannover coach Dieter Hecking said, "We might loan out a few players once the transfer window merry-go-round starts.

"But there is on thing I can say for sure and that is that we will not sell Szabolcs Huszti."