9 November 2005, Celtic 2-0 Rangers
9 November 2005, Celtic 2-0 Rangers. The Hoops secured a place in the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final which flipped the pressure on Alex McLeish ten-fold. Gordon Strachan initially started slowly as Celtic boss which included suffering a derby defeat at Ibrox in August was now displaying increasingly positive signs given his side won nine of their 10 league matches thereafter.
From a historical perspective, it was possibly this encounter that became the turning point for Strachan so early on into his tenure. Shaun Maloney’s moment of magic from 30 yards gave Celtic the lead on 26 minutes. Greek centre-back Sotirious Kyrgiakos was sent off in the second half for a second yellow after sarcastically clapping Celtic supporters much to the dismay of experienced referee Kenny Clark.
What was funnier was that Kyrgiakos was smiling as he trudged off the park which seemed to anger McLeish further, A miserable night for Rangers was compounded when Stefan Klos was more concerned with trying to get out the road of the onrushing Bobo Balde rather than looking at the ball which hit off Klos and went into the back of his net for Celtic’s second. Famously, Strachan’s men would go onto lift the Scottish League Cup in season 2005/2006 beating Dunfermline 3-0 in the final.
