A depleted Celtic side took the short journey to Ibrox on Sunday to play Rangers in the Old Firm.

Before the match there was a minute's silence to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster, when 66 people died in a crush leaving stairway 13 after a drawn Old Firm game. It was respectfully carried out by both sets of fans.

Celtic were missing both Cha Du-Ri and Ki Sung-Yong due to international commitments, while skipper Scott Brown(suspension) Oliver Kapo(hamstring injury) and Daryl Murphy(calf injury) were all ruled out. Recent signing Freddie Ljungberg was expected to be in the squad but the game came too soon for the player who only signed on Saturday.

Celtic made three changes to the team from last week as Beram Kayal, Charlie Mulgrew and Georgios Samaras replaced Brown, Kapo and Murphy.

It was one of these changes that paid off for Celtic as Georgios Samaras' double gave the Hoops a 2-0 away victory.

Rangers were the better team in the first half and put pressure on Celtic but Celtic began to drag themselves into the game showing signs of life just before the half.

The league leaders came into the game in desperate need of a victory as Rangers were only a point behind with two games in hand.

Celtic came out in the second half more combative than they had the first and soon reaped the rewards from their efforts when Georgios Samaras gave them the lead on 62 minutes. Samaras took control of a long ball forward before knocking the ball past Alan McGregor in the Rangers goal. He then slid the ball into an empty net from the edge of the area.

The relief was obvious as Samaras celebrated with the rapturous Celtic fans, earning himself a yellow card to go with it.

Rangers were obviously rattled by the goal and Celtic took control of the match.

Within a few minutes Samaras was involved again when he whipped in a great cross for young James Forrest. The 19 year old playing on the right wing generally plays as a striker but couldn't connect with Samaras ball that was just too high.

A series of set pieces ensued that resulted in a penalty to Celtic.

Once again Samaras was the catalyst as he was taken down by a rash challenge by Majid Bougherra in the Rangers box. Samaras stepped up to end any Rangers comeback by slotting the penalty passed McGregor.

Rangers pressed for the remaining 20 minutes but never realistically threatened the Celtic goal.

The win puts Celtic 4 points clear at the top but if Rangers win both their games in hand they will reclaim top spot. The two sides will meet again at Celtic Park next month.

Celtic:
Forster;
Wilson, Majstorovic, Rogne, Izaguirre;
Forrest, Ledley, Kayal, Mulgrew;
McCourt;
Samaras.

Subs:Zaluska, Juarez, Hooiveld, Stokes, McGinn, Crosas, Towell.

Rangers:
McGregor;
Foster, Bougherra, Weir, Papac;
Davis, McCulloch, Ness, Whittaker;
Weiss;
Miller.

Subs: Alexander, Hutton, Kerkar, Beattie, Fleck, Lafferty, Webster.