Rangers started 2025 with a bang by thrashing Old Firm rivals Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox on Thursday to potentially reopen the Scottish Premiership title race. Philippe Clement’s men now trail Brendan Rodgers’ side by 11 points but it was the sort of display that makes you wonder if it could mark a turning point for the two Glasgow giants who meet again in mid-March.
Celtic had been unbeaten in the SPL until this loss and the Bhoys were not just beaten but they were dismantled as Rangers showed more desire and purpose with less of the ball. Ianis Hagi got the party started early in the pair’s first meeting of 2025 with a strike from distance after being teed up by Nicolas Raskin and the Ibrox crowd’s decibel level barely dropped after that.
It was 1-0 at the break but second half Robin Propper and Danilo goals after the hour mark put the game beyond the Gers’ bitter rivals. U.S. men’s national team defender Cameron Carter-Vickers found himself on the wrong end of the result although fellow USMNT star and Celtic teammate Auston Trusty was an unused substitute.
Whether it can inspire a Rangers title race recovery is too early to tell but it was a strong start to the new year by Clement’s side and a means of applying pressure on Rodgers’ men in the coming months. The 11-point gap is arguably too great at present but another defeat for Celtic and suddenly the gap is not as insurmountable for their rivals.
Although both Celtic and Rangers are too experienced to assume that the title race is already a foregone conclusion, both will know that there will not be too many points dropped in the run-in. Ibrox could have created a turning point in momentum which Rangers will look to cash in on but they will look at Thursday’s showing and wonder where that sort of form was earlier in the year.
Four losses and three draws — including a 3-0 loss away at Celtic earlier in the season — could have already ensured that second place is the best available scenario for the Gers. However, such a similarly commanding win does at least atone for a painful Scottish League Cup final loss on penalties last month after a 3-3 draw over 120 minutes.
With a possible top eight spot coming in the UEFA Europa League, Clement’s team might still be better off focusing on Europe at this stage. Equally, though, one could also argue that Celtic will make the top 24 in the UEFA Champions League with two games to go and that they could focus more on that in the first few weeks of 2025 which leaves the door slightly ajar.
If that does turn out to be the case, Rangers may well have planted the seed of doubt necessary to make Rodgers’ outfit wobble at a critical moment and reopen the SPL title discussion. In order to capitalize on that result, it needs to be a much stronger second half of term on the blue side of Glasgow and this result and performance suggests that could still be possible.
