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What are the greatest Old Firm derbies since 2000?

The latest game in one of the oldest and greatest rivalries in football is upon on us, as Rangers and Celtic go head to head again. Old Firm Derbies have served up numerous classics over the years and the fixture never passes withhout both sides going all out for victory. In the hope that this weekend’s match will be a banger, we’ve taken a closer look at four of the top Rangers v Celtic clashes of recent years.

The 4 best Old Firm Derbies since 2000

Rangers 2-3 Celtic (March 2018)

This Rangers and Celtic game had it all – five goals, a sending off, a late winner, and Rangers missing a sitter to make it 3-3.

Rangers were quick out the blocks as Josh Windass opened the scoring on three minutes before Tom Rogic curled in the equaliser just eight minutes later.

Ibrox was once more back on its feet in the 26th minute when Daniel Candeias edged Rangers ahead again but Moussa Dembele sent the teams in at the break tied after equalising on the stroke of half-time.

It then looked advantage Rangers when Celtic defender Jose Simunovic was shown a straight red for catching Alfredo Morelos with an elbow but it was Celtic who pinched the points with Odsonne Edouard curling home a sublime winner on 69 minutes. Morelos then missed a glorious chance with two minutes left – hitting the post from just two yards out.

The win moved Celtic nine points clear of their fierce rivals and they cruised to their seventh league title in a row while Rangers stuttered to 3rd place behind Aberdeen.

Rangers 3-2 Celtic (May 2002)

The Old Firm played out an absolute cracker of a Scottish Cup final that saw Rangers nicking it at the death to land the Scottish Cup for the 30th time in their history.

Celtic had twice been ahead courtesy of goals from John Hartson and Bobo Balde but they couldn’t shake off a stubborn Rangers side that fought back with equalisers from Peter Lovenkrands and Barry Ferguson.

With the Hoops chasing a league and cup double, step forward Peter Lovenkrands once more – the Danish striker grabbed the winner with less than a minute left on the clock to leave Celtic hearts broken but, nonetheless, it was one of the classic Old Firm Derbies.

Celtic 6-2 Rangers (August 2000)

Even by the crazy standards Old Firm Derbies, this one trumped them all with eight goals and a red card, as Martin O’Neill tasted victory in his first Glasgow showdown.

Three goals in the opening 11 minutes saw Rangers floored as Chris Sutton, Stan Petrov, and Paul Lambert got Celtic Park rocking.

Rangers grabbed one back through Claudio Reyna before Henrik Larsson scored one of the best goals ever witnessed in Scotland, nutmegging Bert Konterman before lobbing Stefan Klos.

A Billy Dodds penalty hinted at a Rangers rival but a red card for Barry Ferguson put paid to that before Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton doubled their tallies to round off a crazy 90 minutes. The game was thrilling from start to finish and one of the best between Celtic and Rangers this century.

Rangers 5-1 Celtic (November 2000)

Having been spanked 6-2 at Celtic Park in August, it was payback time for Rangers and their fans, who exacted revenge over their rivals in devastating style.

It wouldn’t be an Old Firm game without a sending off and this time it was Alan Thompson who saw red with the match tied at 1-1.

Barry Ferguson had given Rangers the lead before Henrik Larsson equalised for Celtic on the 56th minute. A devastating 10 minutes then saw Celtic concede twice and Thomson sent off – any hope of salvaging three points was gone.

Goals from Lorenzo Amoruso and Michael Mols were the icing on the cake for Rangers as they strolled to a 5-1 victory.