Celtic head coach Fran Alonso appeared to be headbutted from behind by a member of the Rangers coaching staff following a dramatic 1-1 draw in the Scottish Women’s Premier League.
Talking to Sky Sports, Spaniard Alonso said: “Someone pushed me from behind. I never talked to him the whole game. I was called a little rat, but I don’t know why.”
When asked about incident, Rangers manager Malky Thomson said: “Without me seeing it I wouldn’t comment. If that is the case there will be an investigation and we will look at it.”
Celtic had rescued a point with the last kick of the match by Caitlin Hayes to remain second in the SWPL, eight points behind leaders Glasgow City.
Alonso’s side remain unbeaten against defending champions Rangers this season, with one league meeting to come and one point separating the sides.
Rangers had not hidden the fact that the sting of their last derby defeat was difficult to take. Using that hurt as fuel, they started in positive fashion and Lisa Martinez’s cushioned header was unfortunate to find the side-netting inside the opening two minutes.
Celtic were reduced to playing on the break but carried a threat, and almost went ahead when Natasha Flint charged down goalkeeper Jenna Fife’s kick but the ball skimmed just wide of the empty goal.
While Fife could then afford a wry smile at her luck, Kelly Clark could not as she gifted Rangers their opener.
The Celtic captain’s touch on Emma Watson’s cross saw the ball fizz away from goalkeeper Pamela Tajonar and into the path of the waiting Brogan Hay, who could not miss the target from close range.
Celtic announced the signing of Kit Loferski just 90 minutes before kick-off and, in a baptism of fire, the American forward was introduced with 20 minutes to go in an attempt to inject life into the team.
But overall the second half lacked quality, with chances few and far between until six additional minutes of stoppage time were signalled.
Rangers came close to sealing the victory through Jodi McLeary but the substitute could not latch on to Megan Bell’s delivery.
Instead, as the game moved into added time in added time, there was a thrilling finale in store for the Celtic contingent among the 3,134 fans.
Fife came out to clear the ball on the edge of her area but kicked against the onrushing Hayes, allowing the defender to knock the ball into an unguarded net, her third goal against Rangers this season sparking scenes of wild celebration from the visiting bench.
