Gascoigne pulls all the strings

For a player who responds instantly to the merest hint of a challenge on the field, Paul Gascoigne seems to take an inordinate time to react to a metaphorical kick up the backside. The England midfielder admitted after his glittering contribution to Rangers' 1-0 victory over Celtic that it is several weeks since the Ibrox manager, Walter Smith, applied the old remedy at a time when his erratic genius was out of focus.

Since then, Gascoigne has often been as culpable as his teammates as the Scottish champions have lost points in draws with Aberdeen and Motherwell and a defeat from Dundee United. Perhaps, however, it is the stimulus of Old Firm matches - and, the evidence suggests, of internationals - that has a more galvanising effect than any managerial counsel on this mercurial talent.

Gascoigne on his toes is to Rangers what Cantona at his best was to Manchester United, turning a team that is in control of their opponents into one that is inspired. Rangers looked a little stronger than Celtic in most areas, but Gascoigne was the one who scared them witless.

"Yeah, Walter gave me a kick up the backside a few weeks ago," he said afterwards. "But he has also given me a job like the one I do for England, which is to look after the team first. But in the first half, our guys played the best I've seen from Rangers for a long time.

"The difference between the sides was that our new players did so well. But if you look at Sergio Porrini, who played for Juventus, Jonas Thern's experience in Italy and Marco Negri also coming from Perugia in Serie A, it's not so surprising that they would handle it all right.

"Brian Laurdrup was also outstanding, especially in the first half. Andy Goram made two great saves before the old man came up to score. I was surprised at Richard Gough getting the goal with his right foot. He hasn't really got any feet.

"We kept quiet in the build-up to the game and let Celtic do all the talking. We just got ourselves together. We can only celebrate for 10 days, though, before we play them again. We'll be keeping quiet before that one, too."

Keeping a motivated Gascoigne quiet on the field throughout 90 minutes is not possible and, even if he did have little unobtrusive spells in the match, he was always liable to produce the devastatingly perceptive and accurate pass that would put Celtic back on their heels.

Curiously, Gascoigne and Laudrup, who bolted down the right and centred for Gough to score the only goal with a sweep of his right foot, indirectly brought encouragement to the Celtic supporters.

Their performances allowed Marc Rieper to demonstrate that the Parkhead side have at last found a reliable central defender. His partner, Alan Stubbs, has also looked improved beyond measure in recent weeks, but he was taken off with a badly swollen eye - the result of a collision with Negri - after only 14 minutes.

But Stephane Mahe, the French left-back, was sent off eight minutes from the end for a tackle from behind on Laudrup. That brought his second caution, following his 54th-minute challenge on Negri. None of this had a material effect on the outcome. Celtic gave a barren performance - except in defence, where they at least prevented Negri from scoring in a league match for the first time.

Rangers were authoritative throughout. Even the victory could not get them back to the top of the Premier Division. Hearts retained the lead with a 2-0 victory in the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle. Goals from John Robertson and derby debutant Jose Quitongo sank Hibernians.

Rangers: Goram, McCall, Cleland, Gough, Porrini, Bjorklund, Thern, Gascoigne (Albertz 89), Negri, Gattuso, Laudrup (Durie 83). Subs Not Used: McCoist. Booked: Gough, Gascoigne, Gattuso. Goals: Gough 29.

Celtic: Gould, Boyd (Lambert 73), Mahe, McNamara, Rieper, Stubbs (Annoni 16), Larsson, Burley, Donnelly, Wieghorst, Blinker (Thom 60). Sent Off: Mahe (81). Booked: Mahe, Boyd, Larsson, Blinker, Burley.

Referee: K Clark (Paisley).