7 Rangers and Celtic dead rubbers that came alive as Boruc waves the flag and Lennon and Smith erupt

There is no such thing as a meaningless Old Firm clash and we look at seven so-called dead rubbers that are remembered for different reasons.

Celtic head into the final Old Firm of the season with a 17 point advantage over Rangers - and another treble on the horizon.

The Hoops have had the title essentially wrapped up since the turn of the year, but will have a bit of a score to settle with their bitter rivals - who have won the last two derbies.

Scottish Cup success against Aberdeen would cap another glorious season for Brendan Rodgers in the east end, whilst Barry Ferguson could be in the dugout on derby day for the final time.

With his side already out of contention for the league and secured in second place, both sides have nothing to play for. But this is a Glasgow derby, and games are never truly meaningless.

A US takeover of Rangers is edging ever closer and optimism is gradually returning around Ibrox after a bruising campaign. Making it three derby wins in a row would feel like a small victory in a season to forget.

Celtic boss Rodgers meanwhile is expecting big things after his side where shocked in front of their own supporters two months ago. And he'd love revenge to silence Ibrox once again.

Here, Record Sport looks at seven dead rubbers that are remembered for different reasons:

Beale's false dawn

2022/23 Rangers 3 (Cantwell, Souttar, Sakala) Celtic 0

Rangers fans have to deal with a few false dawns in recent times, and this was certainly one of them. With a Todd Cantwell-inspired derby victory giving fresh hope that Michael Beale would be the man to topple Ange Postecoglou.

With the Hoops already having the title safely in the bag, Rangers ended a six game winless run in derby matches in front of a jubilant Ibrox.

Todd Cantwell stabbed in an early opener, before John Souttar doubled the home side's lead before half-time.

Fashion Sakala pounced on some sleepy Celtic defending to add a third 20 minutes from time, whilst rookie Gers keeper Robby McCrorie enjoyed a dream Old Firm debut by keeping a clean sheet.

It would be a rare high point for boss Beale however, with the match his only victory in six attempts against Celtic. He was sacked five months later as Celtic strolled to another title.

Saluting Scott Arfield

2018/19 Rangers 2 (Tavernier, Arfield) Celtic 0

The league might have been over but this win moved Rangers to within six points of their rivals with a game to play as they showed Celtic would no longer get things all their own way in Scottish football.

Gerrard’s arrival saw huge strides made at Ibrox and this completed their first back-to-back home derby wins in seven years to send out a message that they were in a position to realistically challenge for the title again.

James Tavernier got Gers off to a dream start with a free kick inside a couple of minutes and Scott Arfield rounded off a well-worked move to finish the game before his iconic goal celebration salute.

Fortune favours the brave, Walter’s war of words

2009/10 Celtic 2 (Naylor, Fortune) Rangers 1 (Miller)

It was a few months later when he landed the Celtic job permanently that Neil Lennon promised to bring back the thunder but this derby win at least pointed to a brighter future after Tony Mowbray’s ill-fated spell in charge.

Lee Naylor and Marc-Antoine Fortune gave the Hoops their first win of the season against the Light Blues, who scored through Kenny Miller and had Lee McCulloch sent off, and at least restored a bit of battered pride.

Lennon was no shrinking violet as a player and even as a rookie boss showed he’d stand his corner after he told Walter Smith to mind his own business after the Gers boss claimed in his post-match press conference that the Hoops players had been a poor set of professionals.

The Celtic gaffer said: “It’s not Walter’s place. He’s not the Celtic manager and he has not affiliated with the club so those comments should be best left to someone at this club.”

Holy Goalie flies flag; Boyd breaks derby duck

2006 /07 - Rangers 2 (Boyd, Adam) Celtic 0

Walter Smith picked up the pieces of the disastrous Paul Le Guen spell in charge at Ibrox and worked some of his derby magic with a win at Parkhead followed by victory at Ibrox in the final meeting of the season.

Kris Boyd scored his first goal in the Old Firm fixture when he volleyed home Nacho Novo’s cross for his 100th SPL strike and Charlie Adam made sure of the three points with a clever free kick under the Hoops defensive wall.

Colourful Celtic keeper Artur Boruc – affectionately nicknamed the Holy Goalie -– caused a stir after the game when he grabbed a Celtic flag from the travelling fans and waved it on the pith but the Pole later said: “I was just celebrating that we are the champions. I don’t see anything weird with this.”

Rangers at the reddy

2001/02 - Celtic 1 (Thompson) Rangers 1 (Lovenkrands)

This game ended in controversy with an ugly melee resulting in THREE red cards issued in the closing stages in what was a Scottish Cup Final dress rehearsal.

And the 1-1 draw proved to be a psychological boost for the Light Blues who went on to triumph at Hampden with a 3-2 victory at Hampden thanks to Peter Lovenkrands goal.

The Dane also opened the scoring here at Parkhead in this final league meeting but Alan Thompson levelled before the game exploded in the dying stages.

Referee Kenny Clark sent off Johan Mjallby, John Hartson and Fernando Ricksen after all hell broke loose following a stunning Stefan Klos save from Hartson’s header.

MORAVCIK MAGIC

2000/01 - Rangers 0 Celtic 3 (Larsson, Moravcik, 2)

Henrik Larsson netted an incredible 50th goal of the season for Martin O’Neill’s men who had romped to the title but it was Lubomir Moravcik who was the star of the show with a double.

However, while the silky Slovak was in the twilight of his career this game was notable for the introduction of a younger star with Shaun Maloney coming off the bench for his debut.

And he almost made a dream start to his Hoops career when he found himself on the end of an Alan Thompson pass but saw his close-range shot saved by Stefan Klos.

Celtic were so far ahead in the league that season that some fans brought newspapers along for a joke and pretended to read them during Rangers attacks in a meaningless game.

Take Vat!

1994/95 - Celtic 3 (Van Hooijdonk, Moore og, Vata) Rangers 0

Rangers had wrapped up their seventh consecutive league title with four games to go and would eventually finish a staggering 18 points ahead of Celtic who ended up fourth that season.

But for 90 minutes you would never have known the huge gulf between the sides in a game, played while the Hoops were using Hampden as their temporary home, that his remembered for Rudi Vata’s free kick which sealed a 3-0 win after Pierre van Hooijdonk’s strike and a Craig Moore own goal.

It was the heaviest defeat of the season for the Light Blues but the response was instant as Walter Smith announced in his post-match press conference that they had sealed a stunning deal for Paul Gascoigne from Lazio.