Rangers defeated fierce cross-town rivals Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox on Saturday to move level at the top of the Scottish Premier League table.

American DaMarcus Beasley, still smarting from an ankle injury he suffered in the US Men's National Team 1-0 victory at Switzerland in midweek, came on as a substitute in the 75th minute.

As is typical of an Old Firm match, the game was punctuated with strong tackles and four times as many yellow cards as goals. While Rangers fully deserved their win, the scoreline was not an indication of complete dominance by the side from the west side of Glasgow.

As Celtic manager Gordon Strachan pointed out at the post-game press conference: "Rangers did not get that many chances, but the ones they took, they scored. When we had chances, we simply didn't take them."

The green side of the Old Firm got off to the better start as Scott MacDonald, Celtic's Australian striker that supported the club as a boy, connected with a Jiri Jarosik cross and forced an excellent save from 'Gers keeper Allan McGregor.

Nerves were high as there were several players making their debut in what the local press has dubbed 'the greatest sports rivalry in the world', which led to fierce challenges on either side, but Celtic were guilty of the most onerous offences as midfielder Massimo Donati was the first of nine Bhoys to see yellow in the match.

As is true of most derbies, it is mistakes that can determine the outcome of the game. In the 27th minute, an innocuous looking Alan Hutton cross was looked on by two Celtic defenders before Man of the Match Nacho Novo got behind defender Darren O'Dea and headed Rangers into the lead.

Ultimately, the fierceness with which the game was played would see Celtic captain Stephen McManus stretchered off after being knocked unconscious in a collision with Rangers striker Daniel Cousin. While Strachan wouldn't state after the game that it had an impact on his side, he had to admit that he couldn't spend as much time with the players at halftime as he was tending to the condition of the giant Scotland defender.

After the break, Celtic had a golden chance to tie the game as Jarosik was left wide open in the box, but he sliced his shot wide right of goal.

It was to prove fatal as Rangers went up 2-0 four minutes later as defender John Kennedy, who came on as a substitute for the injured McManus, could not properly clear 'Gers winger Lee McCulloch's shot and Light Blues captain Barry Ferguson pounced on the loose ball in the box and sent it past a diving Artur Boruc.

Now down two to their rivals, Celtic struggled to get back in the game and their chances were few are far between.

Beasley came on for McCulloch in the 75th minute and made a positive impact that led indirectly to the third goal. The American's persistence in attacking the ball forced a corner in the 78th minute. The resulting serve found its way to Charlie Adam, who while driving into the box, was mugged by Celtic's Dutch midfielder Evander Sno and Novo put the resulting penalty away to seal the win.

It doesn't get any easier for either Old Firm side as they each have important Champions League clashes in midweek. The Light Blues will have to contend with the likes of Messi Henry, and Ronaldinho as Spanish giants Barcelona come calling to Ibrox on Tuesday, while Celtic will travel to Portugal to face Freddy Adu and Benfica on Wednesday.

Scoring
RAN - Nacho Novo 2 (Alan Hutton) 27'
RAN - Barry Ferguson 4 55'
RAN - Nacho Novo 3 (PK) 77'

Line-ups
RAN - Allan McGregor; Alan Hutton, Carlos Cuellar, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Barry Ferguson, Kevin Thompson, Charlie Adam, Lee McCulloch, Nacho Novo (Steven Naismith 78'), Daniel Cousin (DaMarcus Beasley 75')

CEL - Artur Boruc; Gary Caldwell, Lee Naylor, Stephen McManus (John Kennedy 44'), Darren O'Dea, Shunsuke Nakamura (Aiden McGeady 58'), Jiri Jarosek, Scott Brown, Evander Sno, Massimo Donati, Scott McDonald