
Derek McInnes made history as he led Rangers to victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers' 1-0 win at Celtic Park was their second triumph over their Old Firm rivals in the space of eight days, having run out 3-0 winners at Ibrox in the League Cup last Sunday.
Naderi helps McInnes make history
Ryan Naderi's first-half strike proved decisive and saw Rangers close the gap to Celtic at the top of the Premiership table to two points ahead of the first international break of the season.
And McInnes has now done something only one previous Rangers manager had ever managed.
The 55-year-old, who won the Scottish Premiership title and Scottish Cup with Rangers as a player, became the club's second boss to win both of their first Old Firm derbies in charge in all competitions.
Graeme Souness was the first to achieve that feat back in 1986, during his time as player-manager.
McInnes took over at Rangers this summer after coming agonisingly close to ending the Old Firm's 41-year grip on the Scottish title with Hearts last season.
And after a rocky start which saw them dumped out of Europa League qualifying by Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok then suffer the same fate against Czech side Jablonec in the Conference League, McInnes has overseen six straight domestic wins â with Rangers keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Rangers are chasing their first league title since the 2020/21 campaign.
They've seen Celtic win the last five on the trot, moving to a record 56 overall last term.
McInnes reflects on 'worthy win'
Speaking after Sunday's triumph, McInnes praised his team's 'big performance' â an especially impressive one given, as will be the case with all Old Firm games this season, no away fans were allowed into the ground.
"Really pleased," he told Sky Sports. "We had to deliver a big performance and we did exactly that. It's not easy coming here, the circumstances you're under and what you face.
"We knew we'd have to overcome a wounded Celtic team. We played with a lot of confidence. I'm disappointed we didn't add to the goal we did score, because we were deserving of that.
"At 1-0, you still think they'll get a chance and we're kicking ourselves a wee bit that we didn't take another chance. It was a worthy win, after what was a disappointing start in the league.
"They came in with a back five, filled the middle of the pitch. In the main, we got it right. In the first 15-20 minutes, our strikers weren't giving us enough but once they started linking the play, everything looked quite calm.
"With someone like [Camilo] Duran up top, we always had to be on our toes. But it was a strong performance."
Next up for Rangers and Celtic
Rangers return to action next month with a home clash against Kilmarnock.
Celtic, meanwhile, hit the road to take on Motherwell.
The next Old Firm showdown is scheduled for January 3 at Ibrox.


