Scottish Premier League/ Rangers 3 Celtic 0: As Scottish football connoisseurs issue a sigh of relief that, for the first time in three years, there will be a race rather than a procession to the Premier League title, Barry Ferguson has little time to draw breath at all.
The Rangers captain, who was poised to leave Ibrox at the turn of the year as the tenure of Paul Le Guen lurched from crisis to crisis, has become the embodiment of his club's revival under Walter Smith.
On Saturday, in between an arduous international double-header and Barcelona's visit tomorrow, Ferguson's performance - as flawless as it was tireless - added credence to the theory that, when fully fit, the 29-year-old remains the best player in Scotland.
"Barry has been terrific," Smith said. "It speaks volumes for his physical conditioning and approach that he is managing to get through the games in the manner he is."
Nacho Novo had already stooped beyond a static visiting defence to head Rangers into the lead by the time Ferguson effectively killed the contest 12 minutes into the second half with a clever finish into Artur Boruc's top-right corner.
Novo rounded off matters with a penalty, Evander Sno having tripped Charlie Adam, to ensure Rangers moved level at the top of the table with Celtic.
Barca's arrival in Glasgow, it seems, cannot come soon enough but Smith always has stressed that domestic issues are uppermost in his thoughts.
"It would have been a difficult one to get over if we hadn't managed to win, so I'm delighted that we did," he said.
Smith's counterpart, Gordon Strachan, conceded the better team on the day had won.
Rarely has a Celtic midfield been so disjointed in an Old Firm encounter and Strachan's decision to field the left-sided Republic of Ireland under-21 Darren O'Dea at right-back proved costly.
And Shunsuke Nakamura, the Japanese midfielder whose brilliance has dug Celtic out of so many troughs in the last two years, remains a shadow of his former self after playing in the Asia Cup through the summer.
Strachan's most pressing concern, though, is with his captain, Stephen McManus. The defender clashed heads with Daniel Cousin in the first half and left the field on a stretcher.
Rangers' supporters have landed their club in trouble on high-profile occasions in the past, so it was heartening to see a large section of them applaud McManus from the field.
After undergoing hospital tests, McManus had fully recovered yesterday but given the nature of his injury, he remains a major doubt for Celtic's meeting with Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday.
- Guardian Service
RANGERS: McGregor, Hutton, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, McCulloch, Ferguson, Thomson, Adam, Cousin (Beasley 75), Novo (Naismith 80). Subs not used: Carroll, Faye, Whittaker, Lennon, Emslie. Booked: McGregor, Hutton.
CELTIC: Boruc, O'Dea, Caldwell, McManus (Kennedy 45), Naylor, Nakamura (McGeady 58), Donati, Scott Brown, Sno, Jarosik, McDonald. Subs not used: Mark Brown, Riordan, O'Brien, Cuthbert, Bjarnason. Booked: McDonald, Donati, Scott Brown, Kennedy, McGeady, Jarosik, Boruc, Naylor, O'Dea.
Referee: M McCurry(Scotland).
