Source: FOOTYMAD
Firework Display At Parkhead
Who said familiarity breeds contempt? The regularity of the Old Firm meeting this year sparked off a tension filled game last night which ended in mayhem as red cards were shown to three players - one after the final whistle. Rangers manager Walter Smith questioned the decisions of referee Calum Murray on a night when three of his players were red-carded as Celtic progressed to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup where they will meet Inverness. Steven Whittaker picked up two yellows in the first half, before Madjid Bougherra was dismissed deep into injury time and El-Hadji Diouf saw red after the final whistle. Smith said: "With Steven Whittaker, I wouldn't have argued with the second yellow card but the first one, I felt he was fouled prior to the challenge, so therefore it was harsh. Madjid Bougherra's one, he quite clearly wins the ball. I think that one was a complete over-reaction from the referee in the circumstances. As far as the last one is concerned, I don't know what happened. That was after the game was finished. We never really got going in terms of our overall possession and threat but looked as though we weren't going to lose goals in the manner in which we did a couple of weeks ago. Overall, we turned in a better performance than we did recently." Celtic first-team coach Alan Thompson accused Diouf of lighting the blue touch paper which set off the fireworks during the game. A half-time spat in the tunnel as the players went in at the interval was just the appetiser with the main dish coming as the game ended. In second-half injury-time, Rangers defender Bougherra was sent off after picking up his second caution. Seconds after the final whistle, as Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant Ally McCoist had to be pulled apart near the technical areas, the unruly Diouf, booked earlier, was booked and red-carded for approaching referee Murray. However, Thompson claimed things started to go bad when Diouf and Lennon clashed on the touchline following the dismissal of Whittaker. He said: "Our physio had gone on when Steven Whittaker went off and Diouf shouldered him. Neil saw it and it has gone on from there. That instigated everything. I am not blaming anyone, I am just telling you what Neil saw. I didn't see anything at half-time. But in terms of Neil and Ally at the end something was said that wasn't taken the right way. They have players who play on the edge but our players did as we asked from them. We are delighted with the performance, discipline-wise and football-wise. We picked up three yellow cards out of everything that went on. We asked the players to remain disciplined and they did what we asked. Any team that gets three red cards in one game - I think that will be looked at. I hope it doesn't take too much away from the way we tried to play. We knew they would come tonight and make it difficult but we kept trying to play the right way. We are over the moon to be through." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is ScottishFitba Net
