Theo Bair discovered his form as Motherwell beat Livingston 3-1 to record a first win in 16 cinch Premiership matches.
The forward scored two and set up another for Blair Spital as Motherwell doubled their first-half goal tally for the league season inside 35 minutes.
Scott Pittman had made it 2-1 but Bair’s fourth goal of the season put the game beyond the reach of the bottom side.
Livi continued battling but could not get a lifeline as they drifted seven points behind their rivals at the foot of the table.
The game pitted two teams in desperate need of a turning point in their season against each other.
Since their previous meeting, which Livi won 2-0, David Martindale’s side had only scored two goals and collected two points in 11 games, while Motherwell’s long run without a win was piling pressure on manager Stuart Kettlewell.
Kettlewell made a big call as he handed Oli Shaw his second start since his loan move from Barnsley and recalled Bair in a three-pronged strikeforce with Callum Slattery and Harry Paton dropping to the bench.
Motherwell had only opened the scoring once since their previous win, against Hearts on September 3, but they came close twice inside four minutes. Bair sliced wide off a defender before Shamal George saved well from Mika Biereth from close range following Georgie Gent’s cross.
The game stopped for 60 seconds at the 10-minute mark as applause rang out around Fir Park for former Motherwell skipper Phil O’Donnell, 16 years and a day after he died after collapsing during a game.
Bair saw another effort deflected wide before setting up the opener in the 14th minute.
Joel Nouble dallied in possession just outside his own box and was robbed by Biereth, who played it on to Bair. The former St Johnstone striker looked like he might have passed up the chance but he played the ball in front of Spittal just in time for the midfielder to stab home.
Spittal repaid the service five minutes later when he played Bair in behind from near the touchline and halfway line. The Canada international got there before George to stab home.
Boos rang out from among the 216 away fans after each goal but they were cheering in the 23rd minute when Cristian Montano chipped the ball over the home defence and Pittman volleyed into the top corner.
The home side restored their two-goal lead in the 35th minute. Bair was already shouting for a pass down the line when Biereth intercepted a Livingston pass and the Dane delivered.
Bair cut inside Mikey Devlin and waited for George to go down before dinking the ball over the goalkeeper and sparking gasps of astonishment from the crowd.
Bair almost had his hat-trick when Shane Blaney’s header bounced off him and went in but it was disallowed for offside.
The Irish defender pulled up with a hamstring problem in the closing seconds of the half and was replaced by Bevis Mugabi, who was busy with the rest of the Motherwell defence for much of the second period.
Livingston’s best chances fell to defenders though and Devlin and Ayo Obileye were off target following set-pieces to leave the visitors in deep relegation trouble, although they have three home league games in succession to follow against Hearts, Dundee and Ross County.
Emma Raducanu is feeling “reborn” and freed of the weight of her US Open triumph as she prepares to make her comeback in Auckland.
The 21-year-old will face a qualifier in the opening round of the ASB Classic, her first match since April following operations on both her wrists and one ankle.
Raducanu looked relaxed and happy as she spoke to the media in New Zealand, saying: “I feel reborn in a way, I feel fresh, I feel ready, I feel happy, I feel excited.
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“Overall I’m feeling very positive and lighter. I think for two years after the US Open I felt maybe a bit more weight on my shoulders but now I feel completely fresh.”
The former British number one had hoped to make her comeback last autumn but her recovery was not a smooth process and she was forced to delay until the start of the new season.
She has been building back up to full fitness on and off court at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton under the guidance of Lawn Tennis Association staff.
For her final week working in London she turned to childhood coach Nick Cavaday while accompanying her in Auckland is mentor Jane O’Donoghue, a former coach who left the LTA to pursue a career in finance.
Raducanu has not had a permanent coach since splitting from Sebastian Sachs at the beginning of June.
O’Donoghue also helped out Raducanu at Wimbledon in 2022 when she was between coaches, and the former US Open champion said: “It’s really nice and refreshing to have her around, I know she has my best interests at heart and it’s just nice to have a familiar face.”
While it is likely to take time for Raducanu to find her feet on the match court again, she believes she is returning to the tour a better player and hungry to succeed.
“It’s going to be fun, I think, going out there competing again, having the competitive juices flowing,” she said.
“I’ve been training really well in practice so overall I’m feeling really good about my game. I think tennis wise I’m better than I was a year ago today, it’s just playing a match it’s going to be different.
“I got to spend a lot of time just thinking how I feel and I definitely got that hunger back just to be on the court competing, training, sweating. I think you really appreciate the time you have when you’re healthy and on court.”
While Raducanu received a wild card in Auckland, she is still waiting to see whether the same will apply for the Australian Open.
Her protected ranking given to players who have been sidelined long term is 103, which appears unlikely to be high enough to secure direct entry in Melbourne.
Currently that would mean going through qualifying at a grand slam for the first time since her remarkable New York triumph in 2021, and she said: “Qualifying doesn’t faze me.
“Right now I’m approaching it like I am in qualifying because I am. I’ve done pretty well in qualifying before so I’ll just see how it goes.”
Preparing to make his 2024 debut across the Tasman Sea at the Brisbane International is Andy Murray, who will take on second seed Grigor Dimitrov in his opening match.
Most of the focus at the tournament is on the returning Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka, and Murray faced the Spaniard in a practice session on Saturday.
Nadal has been sidelined for a year by a hip problem, and Murray said: “It’s great to have him back playing. He’s obviously working extremely hard, like always. He looked physically good, was playing well.”
Both men would need to make it to the semi-finals to meet in anger, and Murray cited renewing his long-time rivalries with Nadal and Novak Djokovic as a goal.
“If I get the opportunity to practise with them, I still really, really enjoy that,” said the Scot. “It does bring back some good memories. But ideally I’d want to be doing that in the tournaments, not in the first rounds. I’d like to be doing it
in the latter stages, if I can.”
Nico de Boinville is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a broken collarbone in a fall at Doncaster on Friday.
The leading rider was partnering 13-8 favourite The Therapist for his boss Nicky Henderson on Town Moor when he and his mount crashed out two flights from the finish.
De Boinville sat out the rest of the card and also missed out on a couple of winners at Newbury on Saturday, including the hugely exciting Jeriko Du Reponet.
Confirming his injury in his Unibet blog, the jockey said: “Unfortunately, I took a crunching fall on Therapist at Doncaster on Friday, and I will be out for a while.
“I pretty much knew that it wasn’t a routine departure soon after I hit the deck, and an X-ray this morning confirmed that I had broken my clavicle.
“It’s obviously annoying, with so many of our good horses looking to prove themselves in better races at this time of the year, as at Newbury today, but it’s only a small-scale setback in the grand scheme of things.
“I don’t know exactly how long I will be out for at the moment, but I’ll just have to get my head down and concentrate on the recovery.
“Others are in a far worse spot than me, so I won’t be feeling sorry for myself.”
Rodri and Julian Alvarez struck as Manchester City closed out a remarkable year with a routine 2-0 win over Premier League bottom side Sheffield United.
Champions League final match-winner Rodri put City on course for a comfortable win at the Etihad Stadium with a fine strike after 14 minutes and Alvarez finished the job in the second half.
After a tricky spell earlier in December, City have now ended 2023 – a year which brought five trophies including English, European and world titles – looking more like their old dominant selves.
It was the first time they had secured back-to-back Premier League wins since the first week of November and ended a run of eight games without a clean sheet.
The game also saw Kevin De Bruyne back in a matchday squad for the first time since August.
Jack Grealish retained his place in the City side despite a difficult few days following a burglary at his home and played 52 minutes before being withdrawn.
Manager Pep Guardiola made two changes to his starting line-up with Josko Gvardiol replacing the injured John Stones and Mateo Kovacic coming in for Matheus Nunes.
De Bruyne did not see any action but earned one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon when he warmed up in the second half.
In truth, City did not need the Belgium international as they comfortably outplayed the struggling Blades.
The hosts soon settled into their usual rhythm, controlling possession and patiently waiting for openings to arise.
It seemed just a matter of time before they broke through and the moment arrived in 14th minute as Rodri seized possession after a challenge on Phil Foden.
The Spaniard confidently drove forward and drove a low shot past Wes Foderingham from 18 yards.
Bernardo Silva shot wide after being played in by Foden and Grealish tested Foderingham from a tight angle.
The visitors missed James McAtee, who was unable to face his parent club, and offered little in attack until a brief flurry just before the break.
William Osula got behind the defence to meet a Jayden Bogle cross but his first-time shot was blocked by Manuel Akanji. Osula had another chance from the resulting corner but his header was saved by Ederson and Bogle also had an effort easily claimed by the City goalkeeper.
Back at the other end Rodri shot over and Foden almost got round Foderingham early in the second half but the keeper just managed to claw the ball away.
Foden had better luck when he created the second goal for Alvarez on the hour, breaking into the area from an Oscar Bobb pass and squaring for the Argentina forward to slide in.
Alvarez almost snatched another when Foderingham smashed a clearance straight at him but it ricocheted over.
Robyndzone continued the excellent recent form of Venetia Williams with victory in the Betfred Last Fling Handicap Chase at Haydock, the second leg of a double on the card for the trainer and conditional jockey Ned Fox.
The nine-year-old impressed on his seasonal reappearance at Ludlow in early November before falling at the halfway stage on his next appearance at Sandown.
Robyndzone was a 100-30 chance to get back on the winning trail on Merseyside and made most of the running on his way to an eight-length success over Fortescue.
Williams and Fox had earlier successfully combined with even-money favourite Hill Of Tara in the Betfred Nifty 50 Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.
Fox said: “It was a great day. It was Hill Of Tara’s first run over three miles and he saw it out really well.
“He galloped home really strongly and did it really well, he was really good.
“Robyndzone was also stepping up in trip and he jumped really well and just galloped the others into the ground really. He’s not the quickest in the world, but he just galloped and he’s a very tough horse and did it very well.”
It was a first career double for the 23-year-old, who is based with Williams and has now moved his career tally up to 30 winners thanks to his Haydock brace.
He added: “It’s good to get that one out of the way and hopefully there will be a few more along the way.
“I’m very lucky to be working for Venetia who is giving me these good opportunities on Saturdays and big meetings.
“The yard is in great form and everything is going well, so long may it continue.”
Bertie’s Ballet (5-4) dug deep to land the Betfred TV EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle for Dianne Sayer and Henry Brooke.
The dual bumper winner chased home subsequent Grade One runner-up Favour And Fortune on his hurdling debut at Wetherby and made no mistake at the second time of asking, seeing off Norman Fletcher by a length and a half.
Sayer said: “I’m really pleased, his owners are lovely people and the horse is a professional in every way. It’s great to have him in the yard and we’re lucky to have him.
“I was very hopeful today. I think a small field suits him and heavy ground helped as they just went steady. He’s got lots of ability this horse, but very little experience.
“I’m very aware that he hasn’t got many miles on the clock and going forward that’s my biggest fear as we’ll be putting him into company that’s a lot more experience than he is, but hopefully he’ll continue to take it in his stride and we’re looking forward to the future with him.
“We might look to run in the EBF Final at Sandown, but that is obviously dropping him at the deep end. We’ll see how he comes out of today and take it from there.”
Richard Bandey’s Southern Sam (100-30) edged out Gold Emery in the Betfred Goals Galore Novices’ Handicap Chase, while 5-2 favourite Punta Del Este dominated his rivals for Dan Skelton and Tristan Durrell in the Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Handicap Hurdle.
Happy And Fine struck at 7-2 in the Betfred ‘Hot Shots’ Handicap Chase and San Francisco justified cramped odds of 8-11 in the concluding Betfred Happy New Year Open NH Flat Race.
Queens Gamble continued her march to the Cheltenham Festival by successfully stepping up to Listed class in the Byerley Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Taunton.
Seriously impressive when winning her first two bumper starts at Cheltenham last season, the five-year-old subsequently found Dysart Enos too strong in a Listed event at Market Rasen before finishing down the field in the Champion Bumper at the Festival.
She won a maiden hurdle at Warwick in the spring on her final start for the retiring Oliver Sherwood and made a winning reappearance for Harry Derham, for whom Sherwood now acts as assistant, at Kempton last month.
Queens Gamble was a 5-6 favourite to maintain her unbeaten record over obstacles in Somerset and while
Casa No Mento looked to have her in real trouble halfway up the home straight, the market leader responded to the urgings of her regular partner Jonathan Burke to get on top after the final flight, with two and three-quarter lengths separating the pair at the line.
Derham said: “She did everything right, we thought she’d do that and we’re very pleased that she has, so job done.
“Johnny (Burke) was never really worried. Last season I think she was a little bit more forward going, but she’s very relaxed and very professional nowadays and he said every time he squeezed her she was just there and ready to go.
“She’s a good mare and Nigel’s (Twiston-Davies, trainer of runner-up) is obviously a good mare too. They’ve pulled well clear, which is always a good sign.”
Paddy Power left Queen Gamble unchanged at 16-1 for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, with her old rival Dysart Enos the 7-2 favourite.
On whether she would run again before the Festival, Derham added: “Until I speak Ed (Galvin) and Alex (Frost) properly about it I wouldn’t like to confirm, but I’d say there’s no need to run again.
“She’s had three runs over hurdles now, she jumped quickly today and I see very little reason to run again between now and the Festival.
“She’s good round the track (Cheltenham), she’s improving and I know I’ve got more to come from here.
“She’s done everything right so far, all she can do is keep winning her races and she’ll go there with a good chance.”
Surrey Quest provided Toby Lawes with one of the biggest victories of his training career to date when landing the Coral Mandarin Handicap Chase at Newbury.
Formally a right-hand man to Nicky Henderson, it was somewhat fitting it was a former Seven Barrows inmate that provided him with his finest hour as he followed up an impressive stable bow at Huntingdon with a battling success in the rain-softened ground.
Having been up with the leaders throughout, Surrey Quest stuck to his task gamely when asked for maximum effort by man-of-the-moment James Bowen, who was striking for the third time on the card.
Although not fluent two from home, the 7-2 chance still had enough in reserve to hold off Kerry Lee’s 11-4 favourite Atlanta Brave by three-quarters of a length and give owners Surrey Racing plenty to dream about moving forward.
“The ground didn’t come up as soft as we were worried about and James rode him perfectly to plan,” said Clive Hadingham, co-founder of Surrey Racing with Steve Grubb.
“We know he stays and it looks like from that performance he will stay another couple of furlongs. The front two pulled away handily from the rest. It opens up a lot of options.
“That is the biggest win for Toby and he would be probably one of the better horses in Toby’s yard. We have to give plenty of credit of Jackie Du Plessis in Cornwall, who looks after horses with niggling issues for us and she found a little issue with Quest and helped put it right – without that we wouldn’t now have the horse we have got.
“Toby has then taken that further with the training and it has been a team effort from all of them.”
He went on: “We will have to see what the handicapper does and there’s a few options. We’ll sleep on it and celebrate this and the trophy is big enough to fill up with champagne so we will take that away and have some fun!
“We will probably have a look at the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster at the end of January, but we will enjoy today and see how he comes out of it and then put our heads together.”
However, there would be no four-timer for Bowen as Henderson’s Walking On Air was denied by Ben Pauling’s Henry’s Friend (17-2) in the concluding Coral Get Closer To The Action Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.
A useful hurdler last term, it was a huge improvement on the six-year-old’s Doncaster chasing debut and a performance that somewhat surprised his handler.
“I was pleased with the result, but I didn’t think he would handle the ground and I think he’s won despite this being not his most suitable conditions,” said Pauling.
“He’s done very well to win and jumped very well on the whole without ever jumping as well as he did at Doncaster last time. It was a gutsy performance and I think he is an improving novice.
“He’s always had a touch of class and this is his game (chasing), but I do think there will be a lot more to come on slightly better ground.”
Issar d’Airy made a pleasing chasing debut to strike at 4-1 in the New ‘Bet-In-Race’ With Coral Handicap Chase.
Gary Moore’s five-year-old stepped up markedly on what he had shown over hurdles and produced a superb round of jumping under Niall Houlihan as he sauntered to a four-and-a-quarter-length success over the 6-5 favourite Martator, who had attempted to make all.
“I was very pleased and he jumped very well for a horse having his first start over fences,” said Moore.
“What he beat I don’t know because the favourite went off very fast and he was never going to get home unless he was a super horse going that pace. Niall was good and patient and gave him a nice introduction and he’s done well our horse, I’m very happy.
“It will depend what the handicapper does to him, but there is a two-mile chase at Lingfield over Millions Weekend and I might look at going there, but I’m not sure.”
Meanwhile, the fine season of King George VI winning rider Gavin Sheehan continued when he scored another Saturday success aboard Olly Murphy’s Rambo T (2-1 favourite) in the Coral Racing Club Join For Free Handicap Hurdle.
“He appreciated the step back in trip and I think the race fell apart somewhat,” said Murphy.
“I thought a lot of horses were beat early in the straight, but albeit it was a good performance.
“He doesn’t stay three miles and we hope he carries on progressing. He handles soft ground well and he is a strong stayer at two-and-a-half, just doesn’t stay three. It was a good performance and hopefully he can carry on progressing.”
Mauricio Pochettino praised a “deserved” Chelsea victory after watching his side resist a late Luton fightback to sign off 2023 with a 3-2 win.
Chelsea looked to be cruising as a Cole Palmer brace sandwiched a goal from Noni Madueke to put them 3-0 up with 10 minutes remaining at Kenilworth Road.
There was then late drama, with Ross Barkley and Elijah Adebayo netting for the Hatters, but Pochettino was satisfied that his team were worthy of the win.
“I think we controlled the game until 65 minutes,” he said. “We were the better side and we fully deserved the result. (There were) many positive performances.
“When you concede it increases the opponent’s belief. The Premier League is like this. If you see (Luton’s) previous games – against Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle – you can understand the difficulty of playing here.
“We need to give them credit. They really believe in the way they play. It’s always tough to play here. We got what we wanted.
“Football is about emotions. When you’re winning 3-0, always you’re still nervous because things can happen to put the game in a difficult situation. We conceded one goal and their belief increased, that’s normal.
“Too many games that has happened in the Premier League. Brighton led against Tottenham 4-0 (on Thursday), in the end it was 4-2. That’s why the Premier League is tough.”
The win ended a run of four straight losses away from home for Chelsea, their worst streak on the road in 23 years, and means they have now taken nine points from their last four games.
With Madueke included from the start for only the second time this season and responding by scoring his second goal in two matches, the manager said he was pleased that his fringe players are proving capable of impactful contributions.
“That’s why you have a big squad,” he said. “We have plenty of numbers when they’re all fit, many players that can perform. It’s very positive to increase the level in all positions.”
Chelsea struck first on 12 minutes through Palmer, rifling into the bottom corner after Issa Kabore’s error had gifted him the ball inside the box.
Madueke made it two, rocketing in when he stood up Amari’i Bell and shot high into Thomas Kaminski’s top corner.
Chelsea’s third and the moment of the match came from Palmer. Nicolas Jackson showed good strength to take control in midfield, turn his man and play a clever early ball through, though at that stage Palmer still had plenty to do.
Kaminski came out, but in shaping to shoot Palmer got the better of the Luton goalkeeper with a sublime roll of his boot over the top of the ball, outfoxed the covering defender Albert Sambi Lokonga who went to ground, and knocked in what at the stage looked like the goal that would kill the game.
But Luton had performed well here in recent games against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City before beating Newcastle last time out, and ensured Chelsea did not walk away easily with their three points.
First Barkley headed in against his former team from a corner, then Adebayo was quickest to the rebound after Djordje Petrovic had saved Alfie Doughty’s effort, as Rob Edwards’ side gave the visitors an uncomfortable finish.
Luton boss Edwards reflected on a game in which his team showed further evidence of their progress in the top flight.
“We have evolved a lot,” he said. “I like the way we are moving and we have the second part of the season to improve.
“I like what I am seeing. The boys are fully committed and we will continue to keep working hard and building.”
Scott Williams has apologised for his “genuinely stupid” comments during an on-stage interview at the World Championship on Wednesday.
Williams courted controversy after joking about England winning “two World Wars and one World Cup” following his third-round win over German Martin Schindler.
He followed that victory up with a 4-1 win over 10th seed Damon Heta on Saturday afternoon to make a first-ever quarter-final at Alexandra Palace.
‘Shaggy’, who received backlash to his insensitive comments, was regretful about his interview on Sky Sports.
He said: “I was advised to come off social media, just X, what I said in the last interview on stage was stupid, genuinely stupid. The guys from Germany know I love Germany.
“My deepest apologies to anyone who took offence, I have had a lot of messages from people who haven’t taken offence, but that has gone now and I am looking forward to Monday.”
He let his darts do the talking in a ruthless performance against Australian Heta, which included a 170 checkout.
The showman was also conducting the crowd before he threw his match-winning dart, which set up a last-eight tie with Michael van Gerwen.
He added: “That is very good. I can’t say too much because I will get myself in trouble.
“Michael? Michael, yeah I have heard of him. I am really looking forward to it, he is a completly different gravy to everyone else in the competition. I am just going to go up there and throw darts and if they go in they go in.”
Rob Cross is into his first quarter-final at Ally Pally since winning the title on debut in 2018 after a 4-0 demolition of Jonny Clayton.
Cross, who now plays Chris Dobey, is enjoying his best season for a number of years and showed he is a contender for the title after throwing a 98.41 average against the Welshman.
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That would have been higher had he not missed six match darts to get over the line.
He said on his on-stage interview: “I thought I needed a new pair of pants!
“I feel for Jonny he never really turned up, he is the nicest guy I have ever met. I was controlled and ruthless, I wanted to get through it. I managed to get it done and on to the next one.”
Dave Chisnall is into a third quarter-final after he beat Daryl Gurney 4-2.
Scott Williams has apologised for his “genuinely stupid” comments during an on-stage interview at the World Championship on Wednesday.
Williams courted controversy after joking about England winning “two World Wars and one World Cup” following his third-round win over German Martin Schindler.
He followed that victory up with a 4-1 win over 10th seed Damon Heta on Saturday afternoon to make a first-ever quarter-final at Alexandra Palace.
‘Shaggy’, who received backlash to his insensitive comments, was regretful about his interview on Sky Sports.
He said: “I was advised to come off social media, just X, what I said in the last interview on stage was stupid, genuinely stupid. The guys from Germany know I love Germany.
“My deepest apologies to anyone who took offence, I have had a lot of messages from people who haven’t taken offence, but that has gone now and I am looking forward to Monday.”
He let his darts do the talking in a ruthless performance against Australian Heta, which included a 170 checkout.
The showman was also conducting the crowd before he threw his match-winning dart, which set up a last-eight tie with Michael van Gerwen.
He added: “That is very good. I can’t say too much because I will get myself in trouble.
“Michael? Michael, yeah I have heard of him. I am really looking forward to it, he is a completly different gravy to everyone else in the competition. I am just going to go up there and throw darts and if they go in they go in.”
Rob Cross is into his first quarter-final at Ally Pally since winning the title on debut in 2018 after a 4-0 demolition of Jonny Clayton.
Cross, who now plays Chris Dobey, is enjoying his best season for a number of years and showed he is a contender for the title after throwing a 98.41 average against the Welshman.
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That would have been higher had he not missed six match darts to get over the line.
He said on his on-stage interview: “I thought I needed a new pair of pants!
“I feel for Jonny he never really turned up, he is the nicest guy I have ever met. I was controlled and ruthless, I wanted to get through it. I managed to get it done and on to the next one.”
Dave Chisnall is into a third quarter-final after he beat Daryl Gurney 4-2.
Brendan Rodgers outlined his impressive Old Firm credentials after Celtic handed Philippe Clement his first defeat as Rangers boss with a 2-1 win at Parkhead.
The Belgian was unbeaten in 16 games since taking over from Michael Beale in October, which offered encouragement travelling to the east end of Glasgow – albeit with no away fans in the stadium due to a ticket dispute between the two clubs.
Celtic had stumbled recently with defeats against Kilmarnock and Hearts but goals from midfielder Paulo Bernardo and striker Kyogo Furuhashi came before Rangers defender Leon Balogun was sent off for denying Daizen Maeda a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Gers skipper James Tavernier fired in a free-kick in the 88th minute to make it a nervy ending for the home side, who held on to move eight points clear having played two games more.
Rodgers has now won 12 and lost just one of his 15 Old Firm derbies, having faced five permanent Rangers managers – Clement, Beale, Steven Gerrard, Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha.
“Over my two spells here I have worked against five Rangers managers and every time Rangers were coming,” said Rodgers, who revealed defender Stephen Welsh injured a shoulder before he was taken off.
“So for me it’s normal. If I listened to media and press then we would be in constant crisis mode and constant fear of Rangers.
“But it’s the fifth manager now. So for me my focus is only on Celtic and concentrating very much on here and a lot of the stuff that maybe does go around, thankfully I ignore it.
“We showed today that with a team still missing key players, and players who will make the difference for us, that we are competitive and we can play football and we can compete. And that is what we will continually do.
“There is no doubt Philippe has improved Rangers. He’s come in, he has used his experience and common sense. He has set the team up well. They are competitive and they play as a team.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge for us. We had to take on the challenge and that is what I have always done when I’ve been here.”
Asked if he expect to be stronger after the winter break, the former Liverpool and Leicester boss said: “We will be. (Reo) Hatate is back involved today, in a different stage of the game we could have given him some game time.
“(Liel) Abada coming back makes a difference for us, he is a goalscorer. Other players will come back, Cameron Carter-Vickers will be ready after the break.
“And hopefully we can add to the squad. I would expect us to be better.”
On the game itself, Rodgers said: “It was as you expect from these games, very tense and an amazing atmosphere.
“I felt we deserved to win the game. We did well with (Rangers’) quite direct approach at times, trying to put pressure onto our back four.
“But they were coming into the game with confidence. I thought in the spells we had when we moved the ball around – which was difficult because the pitch is difficult, I have to say – I thought particularly after the second goal we were very, very good in the game without too many scares.”
Celtic beat Rangers 2-1 at Parkhead to consolidate their place at the top of the cinch Premiership.
Brilliant strikes from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi put the hosts into a commanding position which seemed to be strengthened by Leon Balogun’s red card.
However, James Tavernier’s superb free-kick sparked a late fightback from Rangers in an exciting finale.
Here are five things we learned from the final Glasgow derby of 2023.
Don’t write off Kyogo Furuhashi
The Japan striker had only scored twice in his previous 14 matches but continued his impressive record against Rangers when he swept a magnificent effort into the top corner from 22 yards. The pass looked on but he showed he had lost none of his confidence as he netted his seventh goal in his last six starts in the derby.
Maik Nawrocki was ready
The Polish centre-back had not featured at all since suffering a hamstring injury in the third game of the season. But the summer signing was called into action in the 35th minute after Stephen Welsh damaged a shoulder while deputising for the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers. Nawrocki delivered an excellent display as he made some key interventions.
VAR from perfect communication
The half-time talking point was a penalty claim for Rangers after Alistair Johnston clearly handballed and video assistant referee Willie Collum checked the incident without calling Nick Walsh to his monitor. It was well into the second half before word got to broadcasters Sky Sports that Abdallah Sima was offside in the build-up to the incident. The communication to fans and armchair viewers should be a lot clearer.
Paulo Bernardo settles in
The on-loan Benfica midfielder prodded home his first goal for Celtic on Boxing Day at Dundee but his second was far more memorable. The 21-year-old had already come close twice before producing brilliant technique to arrow a volley home. Bernardo appears to be adapting to Scottish football after getting most of his early appearances for Celtic in the Champions League.
Plenty to work with for Philippe Clement
The Rangers manager pointed out his side had more shots than their hosts and ultimately lost to a “world-class” strike from Furuhashi, after the first defeat of his Ibrox reign. The way his side pushed Celtic with 10 men and the imminent arrival of Wolves forward Fabio Silva will give him plenty of encouragement. Rangers can move two points behind Celtic by winning their two games in hand and the title race will very much be on if they immediately rediscover their recent form.
Captain Teague extended Paul Nicholls’ stranglehold on the Coral Challow Hurdle with a battling success at Newbury.
The Champion Bumper third had claimed the Grade Two Persian War on his hurdling debut before having to settle for second on his next start at Cheltenham, and was backed into 2-1 favouritism prior to the final Grade One of the calendar year.
As chief market rival Willmount checked out tamely turning for home, Harry Cobden was motionless in the saddle aboard Captain Teague as he had he driven-along Lookaway and Ben Pauling’s The Jukebox Man for company heading up the Newbury straight.
Approaching the last Cobden was still at pains to delay asking his mount for maximum effort, but when doing so he found a willing partner as Captain Teague stuck his head down and defied greenness to grind out a one-and-a-half-success over Neil King’s Lookaway in second and The Jukebox Man who plugged on for third.
It was a fourth successive Challow success for Nicholls, who was registering a record-extending sixth victory overall in the two-and-a-half-mile event as Captain Teague joined the likes of Denman, Bravemansgame and Stage Star on the list of Ditcheat stars to claim this valuable Grade One prize.
“He travelled well and jumped brilliantly today and he’s learning all the time,” Nicholls told ITV Racing.
“He just idled in front and I said to Harry if you are going well stride on a bit and try and put the race to bed, but he wishes he had hung on a little longer because he just doesn’t do anything in front.
“He’s basically just learning all the time and he’s a lovely horse and I’m thrilled.
“He will keep on improving and he’s a laid-back horse. We’ve done a lot of work on his jumping and he jumped better today – he didn’t jump that great at Cheltenham. It just comes too easy for him and he’s almost too laid-back. There he’s travelled well, hit the front and thinks he has done enough.
“The best you will see of him is when he jumps a fence next season and he will ultimately get three miles one day, he’s a proper horse.”
On future plans, Nicholls answered: “I will discuss it with Johnny (De La Hay, owner) and I do think soft ground is very important to him.
“If you are talking about Cheltenham and things like that and it was goodish ground you would want to be going three miles (in the Albert Bartlett) and you wouldn’t be afraid of going three miles. If it was testing ground, this sort of trip is ideal, but soft ground is important.
“If you go where Bravemansgame, Stage Star and Hermes Allen are, then he is in that sort of mix and they all ended up being decent chasers and that is where he will be one day.”
In the aftermath, Captain Teague was cut to 14-1 from 33s by both Paddy Power and Betfair for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Philippe Clement’s first Old Firm game ended in his first defeat as Rangers boss as goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi gave Celtic a 2-1 win at Parkhead.
The Belgian had gone 16 games unbeaten since taking over from Michael Beale in October but with no away fans inside the ground due to an allocation dispute between the two clubs it was always going to be the acid test for the injury-hit visitors.
The Ibrox side started the game positively before Hoops midfielder Bernardo scored after 25 minutes, with the Gers missing at least a couple of good chances to level.
Celtic’s prolific striker Furuhashi curled in a second from 20 yards less than two minutes after the restart and there was more woe for the Light Blues in the 71st minute when defender Leon Balogun was shown a straight red card by referee Nick Walsh for denying Daizen Maeda a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Rangers hung on and skipper James Tavernier fired in a wonderful free-kick in the 88th minute but the comeback could not be completed in eight added minutes.
Brendan Rodgers’ side move eight points clear of their Glasgow neighbours at the top of the cinch Premiership and despite having played two games more, the victory could be the springboard to yet another title win.
It was wall-to-wall green and white inside the packed out 60,000-capacity stadium for the lunchtime kick-off and as expected, Hoops centre-back Stephen Welsh replaced the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers with fit-again duo Reo Hatate and Liel Abada back on the bench.
Defender Connor Goldson shrugged off a groin issue and John Lundstram returned to the midfield for Rangers, who gave as good as they got in the early stages.
But in the 12th minute, as the game began to ebb and flow, Bernardo headed a Luis Palma cross past the far post.
Rangers were getting behind the Celtic defence but could not capitalise, with Abdallah Sima’s wild drive over from the edge of the box after 20 minutes a prime example.
Bernardo drove just past the post from a similar distance but moments later, when Palma’s corner from the right ended up at his feet 16 yards out via the head of Sima, the on-loan Benfica player volleyed it powerfully past Gers keeper Jack Butland.
However, there was was huge let-off for the home side on the half-hour mark.
A slack pass from Parkhead full-back Alastair Johnson saw Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers dispossess Welsh to go through against keeper Joe Hart – but inexplicably he refused to shoot and allowed Johnston to get back with a recovery tackle.
Welsh had injured his shoulder in Dessers’ tackle and was immediately replaced by Maik Nawrocki, whose last game was in August.
Ross McCausland and Todd Cantwell both had efforts for the Govan side which should have brought a leveller, and then Clement was shown a yellow card.
There was a possible Rangers penalty for a Johnston handball which came to nothing after a VAR check, with an earlier offside against Sima cited.
The Light Blues would have considered themselves unfortunate to still be behind at the break but in the 47th minute Furuhashi took a pass just outside the box from Matt O’Riley and bent an unstoppable shot past the helpless Butland to totally change the complexion of the encounter.
Kieran Dowell replaced Cantwell and Scott Wright took over from Sima as Clement tried something new while David Turnbull came on for Bernardo just before Balogun was dismissed for taking Maeda down as he raced clear on goal, with centre-back John Souttar coming on for Lundstram in a reshuffle.
However, after a third Celtic goal did not arrive, Tavernier set up a nervy ending when he curled a trademark free-kick from 20 yards past the flailing Hart at his near post.
It was an anxious end to the game for the home fans as Rangers went all out for the leveller, but ultimately to no avail.
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