A first-half header from Jota was enough to settle a tense Old Firm encounter at Hampden, sending Celtic into a Scottish Cup final against Inverness Caley Thistle.
A catalogue of Rangers errors led to the only goal on 42 minutes, with Daizen Maeda profiting from hesitancy to provide the telling cross.
Jota simply had to nod on target from a few yards out.
Celtic will be firm favourites to complete a treble against Championship opposition on 3 June, while Rangers, the defending champions, face up to a season without a trophy.
The holders had chances to level in the second half, with James Tavernier hitting the woodwork and Fashion Sakala guilty of a bad miss from the rebound.
This was the fifth Old Firm meeting of the campaign, with Celtic well on top in the head-to-heads, winning four, with one league draw at Ibrox, where the Glasgow rivals meet again in a fortnight.
Celtic, who beat Rangers in the League Cup final in February, could well have the title wrapped up by then since they need just one more win to secure the Premiership crown.
Neither goalkeeper had much to do in the first half as a deflected shot from Nicolas Raskin fizzed wide of Joe Hart’s post in the opening minute, while Allan McGregor thwarted efforts from Alastair Johnston and Jota without too much fuss.
Celtic were attacking with more menace amid the continued chaos of blocks, hacks and last-ditch tackles, but it was a collective lack of focus from Rangers which allowed Jota to score – along with quick thinking from Maeda.
Borna Barisic and others in blue stopped, anticipating a foul near the edge of the penalty area, and that allowed Maeda to steal in and whip the ball across goal. Jota couldn’t miss with his close-range header as he ghosted away from Tavernier.
Rangers had 45 minutes to salvage their season and started the second period with increased intensity, although it needed a sprawling save from McGregor to keep out a sharp shot from Kyogo Furuhashi.
Hart matched his fellow veteran’s athleticism soon after, tipping wide a raking strike from Scott Arfield.
The Celtic keeper was beaten by a Tavernier shot from 18 yards but the ball crashed against the post, with Sakala wasting a glorious opportunity by firing the follow-up into the side-netting.
A header from Tavernier thumped into into the turf and over and Hart had to look lively to push a low cross out of Arfield’s path before the Rangers midfielder swept over from the edge of the penalty area.
With Rangers growing more desperate in search of a way back, Celtic sat deeper and deeper, absorbing all their old foes could throw at them in the closing stages.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Rangers
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1McGregor
- 2Tavernier
- 6Goldson
- 26Davies
- 31BarisicBooked at 27minsSubstituted forYilmazat 74′minutes
- 4Lundstram
- 43RaskinSubstituted forMatondoat 74′minutes
- 13CantwellBooked at 82mins
- 71TillmanSubstituted forArfieldat 36′minutes
- 14KentSubstituted forSakalaat 45′minutes
- 20MorelosSubstituted forHagiat 83′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Yilmaz
- 7Hagi
- 16Souttar
- 17Matondo
- 18Kamara
- 23Wright
- 30Sakala
- 33McLaughlin
- 37Arfield
Celtic
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Hart
- 2JohnstonSubstituted forRalstonat 54′minutes
- 20Carter-Vickers
- 4Starfelt
- 3Taylor
- 33O’RileySubstituted forMooyat 65′minutes
- 42McGregorBooked at 88mins
- 41HatateSubstituted forIwataat 66′minutes
- 17Neves FilipeSubstituted forHaksabanovicat 66′minutes
- 8FuruhashiSubstituted forOhat 84′minutes
- 38MaedaBooked at 81mins
Substitutes
- 9Haksabanovic
- 13Mooy
- 14Turnbull
- 18Kobayashi
- 19Oh
- 24Iwata
- 29Bain
- 56Ralston
- 69Vata
- Referee:
- William Collum
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Rangers 0, Celtic 1.
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Second Half ends, Rangers 0, Celtic 1.
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Attempt saved. Tomoki Iwata (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Daizen Maeda.
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Ben Davies (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Oh Hyeon-Gyu (Celtic).
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Foul by Rabbi Matondo (Rangers).
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Greg Taylor (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Hand ball by Oh Hyeon-Gyu (Celtic).
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Attempt missed. Ridvan Yilmaz (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by John Lundstram.
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Callum McGregor (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Ianis Hagi (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Callum McGregor (Celtic).
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Foul by Fashion Sakala (Rangers).
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Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Todd Cantwell (Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Anthony Ralston (Celtic).
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Connor Goldson (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Oh Hyeon-Gyu (Celtic).
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Substitution, Celtic. Oh Hyeon-Gyu replaces Kyogo Furuhashi.
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Attempt missed. Scott Arfield (Rangers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Rabbi Matondo.
Player of the match
Carter-VickersCameron Carter-Vickers
Rangers
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Squad number6Player nameGoldson
Average rating4.73
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Squad number13Player nameCantwell
Average rating4.69
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Squad number1Player nameMcGregor
Average rating4.67
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Squad number2Player nameTavernier
Average rating4.64
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Squad number43Player nameRaskin
Average rating4.53
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Squad number37Player nameArfield
Average rating4.35
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Squad number26Player nameDavies
Average rating4.33
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Squad number31Player nameBarisic
Average rating4.26
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Squad number4Player nameLundstram
Average rating4.22
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Squad number71Player nameTillman
Average rating4.18
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Squad number3Player nameYilmaz
Average rating3.65
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Squad number30Player nameSakala
Average rating3.59
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Squad number7Player nameHagi
Average rating3.55
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Squad number20Player nameMorelos
Average rating3.54
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Squad number17Player nameMatondo
Average rating3.53
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Squad number14Player nameKent
Average rating3.41
Celtic
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Squad number20Player nameCarter-Vickers
Average rating7.84
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Squad number17Player nameJota
Average rating7.79
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Squad number38Player nameMaeda
Average rating7.59
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Squad number4Player nameStarfelt
Average rating7.52
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Squad number42Player nameMcGregor
Average rating7.50
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Squad number8Player nameFuruhashi
Average rating7.45
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Squad number56Player nameRalston
Average rating7.38
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Squad number3Player nameTaylor
Average rating7.35
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Squad number2Player nameJohnston
Average rating7.26
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Squad number1Player nameHart
Average rating7.23
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Squad number33Player nameO’Riley
Average rating7.22
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Squad number41Player nameHatate
Average rating7.17
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Squad number13Player nameMooy
Average rating7.14
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Squad number9Player nameHaksabanovic
Average rating6.91
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Squad number24Player nameIwata
Average rating6.78
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Squad number19Player nameOh Hyeon-Gyu
Average rating6.66