Rangers 2-2 Celtic: “Hearts & Motherwell are the winners after draw with Old Firm”

They were sung at intermission. O’Neill made the changes, as he had to. Rio Hattat and Sebastian Toncti came in and the new guys came into this game, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Junior Adamo. O’Neal could have pulled the trigger for more attacks, but he left it at two. And it worked. His team made a huge mistake at first, but then corrected the mistakes.

Sports mentality. You could spend 100 years studying it and still not understand it. Yes, it was about new blood and new tactical thinking, but it was more than that. Suddenly the team that had all the faith was running out of them. Suddenly a team without faith was born again. Trust is a fickle beast. Out of nowhere, Celtic dominated the second half.

Hatati, a player who has looked a poor version of his best this season, made a huge impact. He made the first save from Jack Butland after 55 minutes. Celtic were now at the top. Rangers were in complete decline.

When Kieran Tierney pulled one back with a header, it was just a bonus, Rangers were sluggish and Celtic were desperate. Where was this urgency earlier? Daisen Maeda and Luke McCowan could have scored.

The thought crossed my mind that after being out of prison so much lately, maybe time would catch up with them again. Maybe all this pressure was too little, too late. There were no escapes against Hibernian last week – and with just minutes remaining, you were having a hard time seeing one coming here.

Of course I did. The way this season is going – drama at every turn – the late penalty was never going to cut it in terms of theater. No no. There had to be more.

Butland saved Hattat’s penalty kick, as well as his own rebound shot. Ibrox twisted themselves as the goalkeeper produced a heroic performance and then the place let out a guttural groan as Hatate made him third time lucky. Visiting Celtic fans from a distance went berserk. I snatched reason from the jaws of madness.

Celtic got a draw. Not what they came for, not what they needed, but it was more than they thought they’d get at break. And much less than the Rangers thought they would get.