Derek McInnes has spent a long career being the man who nearly beat the Old Firm. On Sunday he took charge of one of them and beat the other 3-0, and Celtic barely laid a glove on him.
Rangers are through to the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals. Dan Neil, signed from Sunderland in the summer and handed the armband, scored twice on the day he opened his account for the club.
Neil Ran the Game
The opener came on 22 minutes and set the tone, because from that point Celtic were chasing a match they never got hold of. Peter Lovenkrands, watching on, compared Neil's afternoon to Barry Ferguson at his most controlling, which is not a comparison anyone in Glasgow makes casually.
Kevin Kelsy, another summer arrival, made it two on 59 minutes. Neil finished it with his second on 75. Three goals, no reply, and a quarter-final that stopped being a contest well before the hour.
What Went Wrong for O'Neill's Celtic
The selection is already the argument. Celtic looked passive through midfield and never found a way of pressing Neil out of his rhythm, which meant Rangers were allowed to build at their own tempo for ninety minutes. In a fixture usually decided by who wins the second balls, one side did not turn up for that particular fight.
Losing an Old Firm tie is survivable. Losing it 3-0 without threatening, in a cup quarter-final, invites a different level of scrutiny.
McInnes Has Given Rangers Something to Hold Onto
What stood out was not the tactics so much as the togetherness. Rangers pressed as a unit, defended their box properly, and looked like a group that believed the plan would work. That is the thing McInnes built at Aberdeen over years, and getting it to appear this early in his Ibrox tenure matters more than the scoreline.
The semi-final draw pairs Rangers with Aberdeen, who came through on penalties against Kilmarnock with ten men. The other tie is an Edinburgh derby, Hibs against Hearts. Hampden in the autumn has rarely looked better stocked.
Match facts: Rangers 3-0 Celtic, Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, Sunday 13 September 2026. Scorers: Neil 22, Kelsy 59, Neil 75. Dan Neil joined Rangers from Sunderland in the summer of 2026 and scored his first goals for the club. Semi-finals: Rangers v Aberdeen, Hibernian v Hearts.
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