Category Sports News

As goals go, you don’t get much better than Youssef Chermiti’s two for Rangers in Sunday’s draw with Celtic, especially his overhead kick opener.

Comparisons to Scott McTominay’s opener for Scotland in the World Cup-qualifying clinching 4-2 win against Denmark in November quickly followed.

But where does it rank in Old Firm encounters of the 21st Century? Let’s have a look back at previous stunners in the fixture.

Sunday’s 2-2 draw was far from the first derby Martin O’Neill has overseen as Celtic manager. In his first, way back in 2000, Celtic won 6-2, with Henrik Larsson scoring an audacious chip over Stefan Klos.

Bert Konterman’s rising long-range strike secured a 2-1 extra-time win over Celtic in the 2002 Scottish League Cup semi-final at Hampden. Rangers went on to win the trophy.

Three years later, Shaun Maloney, now Celtic’s assistant manager, lit up a League Cup derby win with an outstanding effort from distance at Celtic Park, the opener in a 2-0 success.

When Walter Smith returned to Rangers as manager in 2007, he brought with him the knack of recording unlikely wins in derbies. A March 2007 victory at Celtic Park was sealed by Ugo Ehiogu’s overhead kick.

Celtic needed a win over Rangers in April 2008 and Shunsuke Nakamura’s unstoppable shot from long range set them on their way to a 2-1 win. They eventually won the league on the last day.

Four months later, Pedro Mendes produced a trademark piledriver as part of a 4-2 Rangers victory at Celtic Park.

The second goal in a 4-0 win in a September 2022 win, Jota’s chip showed all the class of Larsson’s 22 years earlier.

Kyogo Furuhashi had an outstanding scoring record in the fixture and his beauty of a left-foot strike proved to be the winner in a December 2023 win for eventual champions Celtic.

And, last season, Hamza Igamane matched that power with a late winner in Rangers’ 3-2 Celtic Park victory.

The third of Chermiti’s four goals against Celtic this season will live long in the memory.

Cognizant Classic – final leaderboard

-17 N Echavarria (Col); -15 T Moore (US), S Lowry (Ire), A Smotherman (US); -13 R Castillo (US); -11 N Hojgaard (Nor), W Mouw (US), K Mitchell (US)

Ireland’s Shane Lowry says he had the Cognizant Classic “in my hands but threw it away” as he found water off the tee on both the 16th and 17th holes to blow his three-shot lead.

The Ryder Cup star looked set for victory at Palm Beach Gardens but double bogeys on those two holes allowed Colombia’s Nico Echavarria to win on 17 under par.

Lowry ended two shots behind on 15 under for a share of second – the same position he finished in the Dubai Invitational earlier this year.

At Dubai Creek, Lowry made a double bogey on the final hole to finish runner-up and the 38-year-old admits his failure to close out victories stings.

“I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away,” said Lowry, who holed the putt that retained the Ryder Cup for Europe last year.

“I’d say I was beaten that day in Dubai. But I beat myself today. That’s twice this year now. I’m getting good at it.

“What can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. This is going to be hard to take.”

On the last 13 times Lowry has entered the final round of a solo tournament in the top three he won just once – The Open in 2019.

He says missing out in Florida was particularly difficult because he is still waiting for his first victory in front of his four-year-old daughter.

“I only wanted it for her. I don’t care about anything else. I wanted it so bad. Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world,” he said.

“I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.”

Four birdies as well as an eagle on the 10th had Lowry cruising towards victory before it unravelled in the final three holes.

Echavarria, 31, took advantage by carding five birdies in a five-under 66 that secured his third PGA Tour victory.

Cognizant Classic – final leaderboard

-17 N Echavarria (Col); -15 T Moore (US), S Lowry (Ire), A Smotherman (US); -13 R Castillo (US); -11 N Hojgaard (Nor), W Mouw (US), K Mitchell (US)

Ireland’s Shane Lowry says he had the Cognizant Classic “in my hands but threw it away” as he found water off the tee on both the 16th and 17th holes to blow his three-shot lead.

The Ryder Cup star looked set for victory at Palm Beach Gardens but double bogeys on those two holes allowed Colombia’s Nico Echavarria to win on 17 under par.

Lowry ended two shots behind on 15 under for a share of second – the same position he finished in the Dubai Invitational earlier this year.

At Dubai Creek, Lowry made a double bogey on the final hole to finish runner-up and the 38-year-old admits his failure to close out victories stings.

“I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away,” said Lowry, who holed the putt that retained the Ryder Cup for Europe last year.

“I’d say I was beaten that day in Dubai. But I beat myself today. That’s twice this year now. I’m getting good at it.

“What can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. This is going to be hard to take.”

On the last 13 times Lowry has entered the final round of a solo tournament in the top three he won just once – The Open in 2019.

He says missing out in Florida was particularly difficult because he is still waiting for his first victory in front of his four-year-old daughter.

“I only wanted it for her. I don’t care about anything else. I wanted it so bad. Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world,” he said.

“I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.”

Four birdies as well as an eagle on the 10th had Lowry cruising towards victory before it unravelled in the final three holes.

Echavarria, 31, took advantage by carding five birdies in a five-under 66 that secured his third PGA Tour victory.

Cognizant Classic – final leaderboard

-17 N Echavarria (Col); -15 T Moore (US), S Lowry (Ire), A Smotherman (US); -13 R Castillo (US); -11 N Hojgaard (Nor), W Mouw (US), K Mitchell (US)

Ireland’s Shane Lowry says he had the Cognizant Classic “in my hands but threw it away” as he found water off the tee on both the 16th and 17th holes to blow his three-shot lead.

The Ryder Cup star looked set for victory at Palm Beach Gardens but double bogeys on those two holes allowed Colombia’s Nico Echavarria to win on 17 under par.

Lowry ended two shots behind on 15 under for a share of second – the same position he finished in the Dubai Invitational earlier this year.

At Dubai Creek, Lowry made a double bogey on the final hole to finish runner-up and the 38-year-old admits his failure to close out victories stings.

“I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away,” said Lowry, who holed the putt that retained the Ryder Cup for Europe last year.

“I’d say I was beaten that day in Dubai. But I beat myself today. That’s twice this year now. I’m getting good at it.

“What can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. This is going to be hard to take.”

On the last 13 times Lowry has entered the final round of a solo tournament in the top three he won just once – The Open in 2019.

He says missing out in Florida was particularly difficult because he is still waiting for his first victory in front of his four-year-old daughter.

“I only wanted it for her. I don’t care about anything else. I wanted it so bad. Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world,” he said.

“I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.”

Four birdies as well as an eagle on the 10th had Lowry cruising towards victory before it unravelled in the final three holes.

Echavarria, 31, took advantage by carding five birdies in a five-under 66 that secured his third PGA Tour victory.