Mowbray fumes at Miller's easy double

Rangers 2 Celtic 1

(GETTY IMAGES)

The Celtic manager Tony Mowbray admitted he was unhappy with his defenders after they gifted Kenny Miller at least one of his goals in Rangers win at Ibrox yesterday.

Glenn Loovens – in for Gary Caldwell at centre-half – was at fault for the second as former Celtic striker Miller brushed off his challenge to fire past goalkeeper Artur Boruc. But there was also uncertainty in the Celtic backline for the first as Miller ran into space before sliding the ball home. Aiden McGeady did manage to pull a goal back from the penalty spot but his strike was not enough to prevent Mowbray's first derby as Celtic manager ending in defeat.

"We allowed them to score," Mowbray said. "There was a lot of quality in our side and yet we find ourselves having lost the game. The bottom line is, I've been critical of them over the last few weeks, hoping to get a reaction and yet the mistakes are still there."

Shaun Maloney had a strong appeal for a penalty in the first half turned down after tripping over David Weir but Mowbray did not criticise referee Craig Thomson. "If the referee thinks he got it right then so be it," Mowbray said. "He gets paid to make decisions and I'm sure the referee will be disappointed if he thinks he got it wrong."

Rangers, without Lee McCulloch and Madjid Bougherra through flu, lost Andrew Little and Kris Boyd to injuries but manager Walter Smith admitted he was disappointed with some of his side's play. "We could have caused Celtic more trouble," he said. But we've defended very well."

Miller added: "We can play better. We were a bit edgy, a bit panicky in the second half but we got the points."

Rangers: McGregor, Little (Novo, 14), Weir, Papac, Smith, Whittaker, Davis, Mendes, Naismith, Boyd (Lafferty, 42), Miller. Substitutes Not Used: Alexander, Rothen, Fleck, Loy, Wilson.

Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Loovens, McManus, Naylor (Caddis, 76), McGeady, Brown, N'Guemo (Samaras, 62), Maloney, Zhi (McCourt, 70), McDonald. Substitutes Not Used: Zaluska, Caldwell, Crosas, Forrest.

Booked: Rangers Mendes, Novo; Celtic Maloney, Wilson, Brown, Loovens.

Referee: C Thomson (Scotland).

Man of the match: Miller.

Attendance: 50,276.