Old Firm Derby: 5 Players Who Had An Impact In Rangers' 4-2 Victory over Celtic

It was, without doubt, one of the best Old Firm matches in recent years.

An end-to-end derby game was packed with glorious goals, fantastic football and even controversy as Ally McCoist's men convincingly won the first clash of the SPL giants this season.

Rangers took an early lead through Steven Naismith's superb volley, but an exquisite Hooper finish and a howler from Gers' keeper Allan McGregor gave Celtic a 2-1 advantage going into halftime.

However, Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic powered in a header to draw his side level 10 minutes after the break before Kyle Lafferty gave Ally McCoist's men the lead.

Charlie Mulgrew was then sent off for Lennon's team before Steven Naismith scored his second, and his side's fourth to wrap up the victory.

Here are the top five players who made the difference on the day.

Steven Naismith

The diminutive forward was Rangers' best player yesterday.

Scoring both the first and the last goal of the match, the versatile Scotsman was all over the park, creating chances, looking for space and generally causing havoc in the Celtic defence.

If Steven Naismith can keep up this sparkling form, then there may well be some interested clubs South of the border come January.

Steven Davis

Like his namesake Naismith, Steven Davis ran the show in yesterday's thrilling encounter.

The central midfielder controlled the game, sprayed passes all over the park and was at the heart of everything good that Rangers produced.

He was also highly unlucky late in the second half when a superb volley cannoned off Fraser Forster's bar.

When the Northern Irishman is on form, there's no stopping him.

Kyle Lafferty

Kyle Lafferty is a much-maligned player who is often berated for his lack of goals, touch and general skill.

However, Scotland manager Craig Levein commented yesterday that Lafferty is the type of player who, although he may not score many, is a constant threat to whoever he plays against both in the air and in his hold-up play.

This resonated with me, as I'm sure it will with other Rangers supporters.

Lafferty did exactly this in yesterday's 4-2 win, playing solidly, setting up two of the goals and also scoring one himself.

Georgios Samaras

Samaras made an impact yesterday simply by being picked.

Although nobody will ever know what goes on inside Celtic's dressing room, manager Neil Lennon seems to constantly select the ungainly Greek striker for selection, despite the fact that to everybody else, the pairing of Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper seems to make far more sense.

In the game, the ex-Man City forward was his usual lumbering self who frequently surrendered possession to the opposition and often made the wrong pass.

With Stokes and Hooper up front, it could have been a very different scoreline.

Charlie Mulgrew

Celtic effectively lost the match when Charlie Mulgrew was given his marching orders.

With the game delicately poised at 3-2, the Bhoys were still very much in the game until the former Aberdeen defender put in a rash challenge on Steven Davis and received a second yellow card.

With the flanks exposed, Rangers pushed forward for another goal and were duly rewarded when Naismith fired home his side's fourth goal.

Conclusion

McCoist's reaction says it all.

This match, which had so much riding on it, gives McCoist some breathing space, but also heaps more pressure on Neil Lennon.

The 4-2 result means Rangers now have a four-point cushion at the top of the table over their arch rivals with only seven games of the season played.

But with Celtic still in Europe, could the Gers exploit this lead even more in the coming months?

There is still a long way to go, but at the moment, Rangers are in the ascendancy.

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